£5 million community grants programme launched to support access to employment and training schemes in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has launched a £5 million Community Grants Programme to help more people overcome barriers to accessing employment and training schemes in the city-region.

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations and Housing Associations will have the opportunity bid for funding of up to £100,000 to invest in providing local, targeted support to ensure city-region residents, particularly those with basic entry qualifications, can participate in support to get them into work or training.

Applications for the first round of funding will open by the end of October 2023, and will also include capacity-building support to help smaller, grass-roots groups.

Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Greater Manchester’s lead for Technical Skills and leader of Bury Council said:

“Our new Greater Manchester Community Grants Programme is a step forward to achieving our ambitions of developing a responsive, integrated labour market that enables all people to achieve their full potential.

“It’s a long-term commitment to supporting residents who want to progress their learning or move into employment but for various reasons may be unable to or unsure how to get started.

“VCSE organisations are critical to engaging those furthest away from the labour market and after speaking with the sector about current education, work and skills support, we have used their feedback to influence this programme.

“We’ll work closely with WEA and other partners including local authorities throughout so that support responds to emerging needs and reaches those who need it most and is delivered in the heart of communities.”

The Community Grants Programme will be managed by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) on GMCA’s behalf and enable two strands of activity over the course of five years, which are jointly funded through Greater Manchester’s devolved Adult Education Budget, UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Multiply: Essential Life Skills, and progressing towards inclusive employment.

Debbie Gayle, Head of Education at WEA said:

“Our mission is to bring adult education in reach of everyone who can benefit from it. To achieve this, we work in partnership with many community organisations to reach those who need education most. Supporting GMCA on this programme was a clear fit for us. We are all about creating opportunities. 

‘We’re in the process of setting up how we will manage applications. In the meantime, interested parties are welcome to express an interest by emailing us and we will notify them when we are ready to receive applications.”

Application dates will be added to WEA’s website in due course. More information about Greater Manchester’s Community Grants programme can be found on the GMCA or WEA websites.