Deadline: 27-Feb-25
The Bright Futures Fund in partnership with Forever Manchester is now open for applications from Community Groups in Greater Manchester.
Funding Information
- The Bright Futures Fund is offering awards of up to £5,000.
- For this round of funding, they’re offering two different payment timescales for you to choose from. This could be either:
- A one-off payment of up to £5,000: this will be received within two weeks upon notification of the award; or
- A payment of up to £5,000, split across three years: the first payment will be received within two weeks upon notification of the award, with the other two payments being received on the same date in 2026 and 2027 subject to project updates.
Eligible Projects
- The following are just some examples of the type of project the Fund may support:
- Ongoing activities which help develop communication, teamwork and other life/work skills in young people, e.g. this could be sports, dance or other weekly activities (not short term/time-limited activity) but which focus on developing skills that are valuable outside of the core activity
- Sessions aimed at helping young people in your community to develop interview or other skills to help them gain work or promotion
- Coaching and mentoring for young people in work who are looking to change careers/improve employment opportunities – Projects supporting young people to understand how to develop and set-up new enterprises
What can you apply for?
- The Fund aims to support organisations running projects that will improve the life chances of people in Greater Manchester, with an emphasis on (but not exclusively) young people. This could mean projects aiming to improve social mobility, develop skills and otherwise support people from a wide variety of backgrounds into or back into work and careers.
- This can include supporting those already in paid employment to access the skills and training they need to make the job changes that could lead to life-long careers. By young people, they mean those from secondary school to those in the early stages of their careers. Whilst there is no upper-age limit, they would expect that the majority of funded projects will be supporting those under the age of 30.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Bright Futures Fund welcomes applications from Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector community groups based in any of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
- The Fund will focus on projects aiming to improve social mobility, develop skills and otherwise support people from a wide variety of backgrounds into or back into work and careers.
- Applicant organisations must be based in one of the ten broughs of Greater Manchester and have an annual income of less than £250,000.
Ineligibility Criteria
- There are a few things that can’t be funded, such as:
- activities that have already taken place or been paid for, contributions to major appeals,
- activities promoting political or religious beliefs and activity which should be provided by statutory services.
For more information, visit Bright Futures Fund.