Over 800 not-for-profit organisations across the UK and Ireland applied for the latest round of NatWest’s Skills & Opportunities funding. This was narrowed down to a shortlist of 96 with the public now invited to help decide which ones should go on to receive grants of up to £35,000.
The Food4Food project, run by Cambridge-based Wintercomfort for the Homeless, will create opportunities for homeless and unemployed adults to gain vocational skills and work experience within the hospitality industry, providing them with realistic employment prospects. Individuals will join weekly cooking classes, budgeting sessions and help in the day centre kitchens.
Other groups from NatWest’s Midlands and East of England region which are vying for an award include the Birmingham based organisations Bangladesh Women's Association, Women Unlimited and Disability Resource Centre; The Mighty Creatives in Leicester, YMCA Leicester; Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust; Telford’s Start Up Enterprise Partnership; Stoke-on-Trent-based Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce & Industry; Wolverhampton Citizens Advice Bureaux; Nottingham’s NBV Enterprise Solutions Ltd; The Learning Consortium and Citizens Advice and Law Centre, both based in Derby; Citizens Advice South Derbyshire and Colbea, which is based in Colchester.
Janat Hulston, Chairman of NatWest’s Mids & East Regional Board, which is judging the entries for the area, said: “We received an excellent response from organisations across the Midlands & East which have created programmes to make a real difference in our disadvantaged communities delivering a measurable positive social impact whilst supporting entrepreneurs and improving the financial education of disadvantaged people. Once again we’ve been impressed with the standard of the entries we’ve received and we look forward to being able to help even more worthy causes achieve their aims.
“It’s going to be a very difficult decision now to choose the ultimate winners of this round – and that’s where the public vote comes in. We want to know which organisations our communities feel could make a real difference with this funding. If it matters to the community then it matters to us.”
To allocate funding fairly across the UK and Ireland, NatWest has divided the projects into seven regions. Members of the public can vote for one worthy cause in each region from now until midday on Friday, November 4.
Go to skillsandopportunitiesfund.natwest.com to find out more.
The Skills & Opportunities Fund launched in 2015 and has already distributed over £3 million, providing grants of up to £35,000 to not-for-profit organisations across the UK and Ireland. The grants have helped people achieve qualifications, find work or start a new business. A further £1.25 million will be shared in December this year. The Fund is expected to reach over 25,000 people by the end of 2016, helping to build better lives and stronger communities.
The Fund is just one part of NatWest’’s wider community support programme, covering everything from The Prince’s Trust (encouraging entrepreneurialism), to MoneySense, (delivering financial education in schools), to RugbyForce, (supporting local sports teams).
Key dates: The next round of funding will be launched in February 2017. To register for our mailing list, sign up at skillsandopportunities-keepintouch.com/.
Full list of winners: skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.com
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For more information: Eligibility criteria, information on shortlisted projects and background information on the Fund are available at: skillsandopportunitiesfund.natwest.com or contact James Graham, Community Programmes Manager, RBS (Tel: +44 (0) 207 672 0061 | Mobile: +44 (0) 7919 045062 | Email: mailto:[email protected]).
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