42 winners to receive grants totalling over £1m from the RBS Skills & Opportunities Fund

Edinburgh, 17-7-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — 42 winners whittled down from over 1,000 entries will receive grants totalling over £1m from the RBS Skills & Opportunities Fund later this month. The fund seeks to support community and charity initiatives that help people achieve qualifications, get into work or set up their own business, now or in the future.

Winners have been chosen from each of seven regions: Scotland, Ireland, the North, Midlands and East, the South East, South West and Wales, and London and include a diverse and inspiring range of not-for-profit organisations, which are helping local people to help themselves build better lives and stronger communities.

You can find out more about all the winners and the inspiring projects that RBS will be putting the funding towards at: skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.com

Here are just a few of them:

• Grassmarket Community Project is an Edinburgh based charity helping homeless and vulnerable people. They will use the funding to upgrade their kitchen into a training kitchen, and to provide cookery courses and industry-recognised qualifications.

• The Centre for Environmental Living and Training (CELT) in Loughrea, Co. Galway, raises awareness of environmental issues and educates people in traditional and ecological skills. The project that their funding will go towards is a woodland management skills programme for unemployed people in the area.

•  Action for Business Ltd helps budding entrepreneurs in Bradford West set up sustainable companies through their Carlisle Business Centre. The funding will go towards a project aimed at maximising the entrepreneurial potential of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
• The London Sports Trust aims to inspire change in young Londoners through the power of sport. The funding will allow them to expand their City Sports Academies programme to five new communities in some of London’s most deprived areas.

Thom Kenrick, Head of Community Programmes at RBS, commented: “We are delighted with the response to our new Skills & Opportunities Fund and pleased to support local community organisations with much-needed funds to help their projects get started or expand.”

Ross McEwan, RBS Chief Executive added: “We’ve been helping to make a difference in our communities for generations. Now, through our new Skills & Opportunities Fund, we want to help more people learn new skills, get into work or start a business. By helping people help themselves, we build stronger communities and we can all grow. If it matters to our local communities, then it matters to us.”

Applications for the next round of funding open on Monday 24 August this year and RBS are hoping for a similarly enthusiastic response. To find out more about the Skills & Opportunities Fund and check out the application criteria, visit skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.com.

###

42 winners will receive grants totalling over £1m from the RBS Skills & Opportunities Fund later this month