Community Learning Grants Program (UK)

Deadline: 20-Sep-21

The Waltham Forest is pleased to announce Community Learning Grants Program that aims to fund projects that help Waltham Forest adults learn new skills and improve their job chances.

Priority Areas of Delivery

Improving quality of life: The primary objective of this round of funding is to improve the quality of life of people who visit, live and work in Waltham Forest, thus promoting physical health, mental health and well-being across a range of activities.
Improving outcomes for Families: Schools and parenting programmes across Waltham Forest, these can be in the form of targeted workshops, information, advice and guidance sessions courses or activities. They are looking for ways to widen participation across the communities amongst families, schools and parenting programmes across Waltham Forest. These can be in the form of targeted workshops, information, advice and guidance sessions, courses or activities.
Increasing digital literacy skills and digital inclusion: They are looking for innovative ways to increase digital literacy skills and digital inclusion across Waltham Forest to support recently unemployed residents and the most economically disadvantaged local residents. These can be in the form of targeted workshops, information, advice and guidance sessions, courses or activities.
Improving participation amongst men and help overcome isolation amongst older residents: They are looking for ways of reducing social isolation and loneliness across Waltham Forest, these can be in the form of targeted workshops, Information, advice and guidance sessions, courses or activities.
Increase awareness of the Green Agenda: They are looking for ways of increase awareness of the Green agenda, through targeted workshops, Information, advice and guidance sessions, courses or activities.

Funding Information

A single bid can be for a maximum of £3,000.
However, the amount offered to partners may vary depending on the number of successful bids accepted.

Funding can cover:

Lecturers’ salaries
Volunteer’s expenses such as travel, training and refreshments
Resources and materials i.e. learner resources
Venue hire or room rental
Publicity and marketing cost
Administration and staff costs for management, planning and delivery (up to 15%)
It cannot be used for capital expenditure or for buying computer equipment including iPads.

What can be funded?

ALS would expect 85% of the learners engaged must live, study or work in the borough of Waltham Forest
Learning projects focusing on areas of deprivation and poverty within the borough of Waltham Forest, see priority area.
Innovative approaches to attract the target groups into learning. However, you should be clear what the learning outcomes will be, how you will engage residents through your group into the activity and how they will progress towards employment, volunteering, work experience and/or further learning following on from this activity.

Priority target groups

They particularly welcome unemployed residents with low level skills or without qualifications who haven’t learned for a while or are underrepresented in community learning including:

Individuals and families on low incomes
Individuals and families experiencing domestic violence
Residents with long term health conditions/mental health issues and Covid-19 related health conditions
BAME especially Pakistani /Bangladeshi/Afro-Caribbean
Men

Priority target areas

Priority will be given to organisations working with residents from at least one of the following wards of Waltham Forest, Leyton, Higham Hill, Cathall, Hoe street, Leabridge, Markhouse, Wood Street, Cann Hall as these wards have the highest levels of deprivation and unemployed residents.

Eligibility Criteria

Does your charity, group or organisation work with Waltham Forest residents? If you have a project that helps residents improve their skills, apply for a grant.
The main target for this funding are groups who can reach disadvantaged communities and individuals.
Your project must encourage and support Waltham Forest adults aged 19 and over to learn and to move on to further learning, volunteering, work experience and/or sustainable employment.
You don’t need any specific previous experience of delivering educational activity. However, your project must focus on residents from the priority groups who:
- are out of work or excluded from the labour market for various reasons; and/or
- have temporary, casual, part-time or low-skilled jobs (only if your project will help them improve their skills and confidence to obtain a more secure place in the labour market).
A range of organisations are eligible to apply for this funding, including:
- Voluntary and community unincorporated associations (e.g. community centre, group with a basic constitution)
- Registered charities
- Community benefit societies registered as industrial and provident societies
- Community interest companies or organisations of another type if you operate as a social
- Any other organisation which has a written governing document and is managed by a board of governors, trustees or management committee.
- Able to show current information such as DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service), safeguarding, risk assessments and Public Liability documents prior to the start of the delivery alongside up-to-date safeguarding training
- Able to give a named person responsible for completing the necessary quality assurance tasks.