European Social Fund grants in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
The European Social Fund (ESF) is a European Community programme. It aims to increase employment and reduce inactivity by helping to tackle the barriers to work faced by disadvantaged groups.Local groups can apply for funding for new projects which improve access to mainstream provision for disadvantaged or excluded people.
Small local charities, voluntary and community groups who have a turnover of less than £100,000 and are not in receipt of other European Union funding. Your group will have to be based in Herefordshire or Worcestershire and must be independent. Groups that are branches of larger national voluntary organisations may be eligible if they can show that they have a separate management committee and accounts which are not consolidated.
Firstly, your participants must be either unemployed (e.g. on job seekers allowance) or economically inactive (e.g. on income support). This latter category includes people working less than 8 hours a week.
Priority will then be given to people facing some kind of disadvantage in the labour market, especially from the following priority groups:
• BME
• Disability
• Ex-offenders
• Homeless
• Refugees
• Lone parents
• Over 50’s
• Rural communities
Young people under 19 are excluded from ESF Community Grants as they are targeted through other ESF funding.
Your project must help them become more employable and prepare them for work, through:
- Removal of Barriers: This could include consultation and first contact engagement activities as well as mentoring and appointing ‘Community Champions’ to promote employment to target groups.
- Non-Accredited Learning: Activities might include taster work experience including voluntary work, initial help with basic skills (not literacy or numeracy) and sessional training.
- Soft skills: These are skills which not lead to qualifications, but are vital for employment success, such as confidence building, communication and presentation skills which can be acquired in a variety of ways, including through volunteering.
- Accredited Learning: This programme is primarily aimed at people a long way from the job market. It is expected that the above types of projects will be most appropriate, but some community groups may want to offer accredited learning. Please confirm eligibility before you apply.
For more information please dowload the guidance notes and the application form below.
