Community Grants for Employability Support

Redditch Borough Council is making available grants of up to £20,000 to third sector and other small organisation who work with economically inactive and disadvantaged people.  The grants are available to fund activity that enables those furthest from the labour market to progress towards employment.

The grants are funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Who can apply for the grant?

Applications are invited from any third sector organisations with a legal status, such as charities and community interest companies.  Other small organisations with social goals will also be considered.  Successful applicants must demonstrate that they are well placed to reach excluded individuals facing barriers which hinder their access to mainstream employability provision.  They must have established links to the communities that they intend to support and be able to engage with the hardest to reach individuals.  Unincorporated organisations are not eligible.

Eligible Projects

Projects funded by the People & Skills Community Grants can deliver a wide range of activities including but not limited to:

• First contact engagement activities, eg activities that benefit participants who are not normally in contact with official organisations such as DWP, FE Colleges etc. These activities should be held in places that participants feel comfortable to visit.
• Activities to improve confidence, motivation and social integration.
• Development of local networks and groups to support people to get a job or access learning, eg Job Clubs or Learning Champion type activity.
• Softer skills development such as assertiveness, anger management, personal resilience, etc.
• Innovative approaches to attract under-represented participant groups into learning.

People & Skills Community Grants are to be solely used to provide services to eligible participants.  Participants must be:

• Aged 16 years of age or over.
• Resident in the Borough of Redditch.
• Eligible to work in the UK (right to work).
• Not in employment, education or training

All support must be delivered by 31 March 2025.

Outputs & Outcomes

The objective of the grant is to fund projects that support disadvantaged people who are furthest from the labour market to move towards or into employment.  Positive outcomes include employment, training & education, participation in mainstream employability provision, job searching activity and work experience.

Successful applicants will be required to deliver at least 1 UKSPF Output and at least 1 UKSPF Outcome per participant in their programme.  The relevant outputs & outcomes, and their definitions, are included in Appendix A.

Grant recipient organisations will be required to submit 2 quarterly reports detailing what outputs and outcomes have been achieved.  The first report must be submitted by 21/1/25 and covers the period from the start of the project to 31/12/24.  The second report must be submitted by 22/4/25 and covers the period from 1/1/25 to 31/3/25.

Project Targets

Community Grant definitions can be found here

Selection criteria

Funding is limited; therefore, the grants will be awarded on a competitive basis.

Applicants are required to demonstrate that they have a track record of supporting people who are more distant from the labour market and who may face multiple disadvantages to tackle their complex and profound barriers to work.

Organisations will need to have established outreach programmes to ensure that they are able to engage with excluded individuals and those hardest to reach.

Applicants are required to provide a project delivery plan detailing the nature and duration of the support provided; how the support will be delivered, eg one to one or one to many, in person or online, etc; a typical client journey from initial engagement, through development of individual learning plans to delivery of support.  Information about any post-participation support should also be provided.

Organisations are required to submit their Safeguarding Policy for assessment as part of the application process.

Applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of the selection process.  Successful applicants will be required to enter into a contract with Redditch Borough Council to deliver the outputs and outcomes included in their submission.  They will be invited to a contract inception meeting with the contract manager to ensure that project delivery is compliant with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund guidelines.

General Data Protection Regulation

Redditch Borough Council is committed to protecting the privacy of people that use its services.  The Council needs to process certain types of personal data (personal information) about the people who benefit from grant funded projects to:

• monitor the delivery and success of those projects;
• to ensure that the aims and objectives of the funding are being achieved;
• to ensure accuracy of records to check against fraud;
• for statistical purposes;
• and to calculate and make payments to providers.

Successful applicants will be required to provide a copy of their Privacy Notice and to enter into a data sharing agreement with Redditch Borough Council.

Any data which falls into the Special Category Data as listed under UK GDPR shall be anonymised before sharing.

Payment of the Grant

Payments will be made in two equal instalments dependent upon acceptable performance and the provision of auditable paperwork.

The first instalment will be paid when the recipient organisation can evidence eligible starts on the project through, for example, individual learner registration forms or individual learning plans.

The second instalment will be paid after receipt of the first quarterly report providing the recipient organisation is able to demonstrate that the project is progressing satisfactorily, and learner satisfaction is rated as good or higher.

How to apply

Eligible organisations can request an application form by emailing ukspf@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk to apply for the People & Skills Community Employment Support Grant.  Completed applications should be returned to the same email address by 5:00pm Friday 1 November 2024.