RBS Skills and Opportunities Fund

The Skills and Opportunities Fund will launch the first of two rounds for 2018 with a short window for submitting applications.

The Skills and Opportunities Fund was set up in 2015 by the Royal Bank of Scotland in support of organisations that help people in disadvantaged communities develop, create or access the skills and opportunities they need to help themselves, skills that will enable them to get into work or start a business, now or in the future. This is the fourth year in a row that the RBS Group has committed £2.5 million which will be split between the two funding rounds, with £2 million going to England and Wales.

Projects must be able to meet the priorities set for their region and focus:

On a disadvantaged community within the UK or Republic of Ireland
On one or more of the following themes:
- Enterprise and entrepreneurship.
- Financial capability.

The maximum grant is £35,000 or 20% of the applicant’s previous year’s turnover. The upper limit of turnover is £10 million. There is no turnover restriction for schools or colleges. No more than 25% can be spend on capital costs, which are fixed one-time expense incurred on the purchase of land, building, construction and equipment.

Applications will be considered from not-for-profit organisations, such as a charity, social enterprise, or community group as well as from state-funded schools and colleges.

To be eligible, applicants must:

Be based in either the UK or Republic of Ireland.
Be able to demonstrate experience of working in and or with disadvantaged communities.
Be able to demonstrate experience in measuring impact of the projects.
Have a turnover of less than £10 million or be a state funded school or college, and have been trading for at least two years.
Be able to complete the project within 18 months of the award.

Applications for the first round of 2018 will be accepted from 5 February until 23 February 2018.

Full details…