UKSPF Skills Innovation Accelerator Programme provides funding opportunities

The Skills Innovation Accelerator Programme is a programme funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which aims to drive up demand and engagement with the existing Doncaster skills and employment offer, as well as to enhance and accelerate innovation in the local skills offer itself.

The Skills Innovation Accelerator Programme will deliver a broad commissioning programme across four key areas:

• Employer-Led skills Challenges
• Re-imagining Learning Spaces
• Remake Learning
• Digital Skills Profile & Micro-credentialling

What's in it for you? 

• Opportunity to promote and showcase your organisation and its offer to your local community audience; raising your profile and being part of something bigger, something that's happening across Doncaster as part of our Education & Skills 2030 Strategy.
• Opportunity to support people in our city to have positive and engaging experiences, to raise aspirations in your local communities, lighting a fire in people to volunteer in their community. 
• Opportunity to apply for grant funding to support your activities.
• Opportunity to redesign a new space within your facility which will open up new learning opportunities.
• Opportunity to develop your current and future workforce. 

Find out more / FAQs:

To find out more about applying for funding, you can email Education.Skills@doncaster.gov.uk or click find out more below to complete the expression of interest forms where we can send you our Grant Guidance documents and further information.

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Employer-Led Skills Challenges

Grant funding available now. Apply for funding to help solve real world problems your organisation is facing and give young people the opportunity to learn industry related skills.

What’s the purpose of this funding?
The Employer-Led Skills Challenges fund invites Doncaster employers to bid for funding to construct hand-on skills/learning challenges related to real world problems their organisations are facing. Applications are very much welcomed from any sector within the local economy but are particularly welcomed from those industries which align to Doncaster’s Centres of Excellence (Engineering, Creative & Digital, Health & Care, and Green Tech).

This is to encourage employers to engage in delivery of learning opportunities (including hands-on work experience opportunities), and to enable residents aged 16+ to engage with real-world scenarios and issues affecting industry, and in turn to develop industry-related skills, and greater knowledge and understanding of the workplace.

The activities you run is limited only by your imagination, but here’s some examples of the types of activities you could run:

Example activities might include:

• An engineering business collaborating with schools to invite young people to work together with their parents/carers to build a wind turbine that can generate power made from recycled materials. The employer would provide the technical materials, and families would present their entries for the employer to judge and award prizes. The award event would highlight the skills entrants had gained as well as possible careers related to this challenge.
• A marketing agency opening their doors to invite groups of people interested in a career change to work in teams of three to six to develop a branding identity for a new start up and to pitch their ideas in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style event.
• A tech company creating a social gaming online ‘hackathon’ for those interested in a career in the digital sector.

How much can I apply for? 

Applications are invited for any amount up to a maximum value of £2000. If you would like to put forward a proposal for an amount in excess of this value please contact us at the email address below. Grants are available on a rolling basis, until either March 2025 or the funding has been exhausted.

Am I eligible, what do I require?

• Evidence you have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training within the last two years
• DBS Certificate of individuals running the Event/Activity 
• Risk Assessments for the Activity 
• Public Liability insurance certificate
• Health and Safety Policy
• Bank Statement dated within the last 6 months

I’m interested – what do I need to do?

Please click find out more to locate the expression of interest form. We will then be able to send you the relevant documentation to apply for the funding.

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Re-imagining Learning Spaces

Grant funding available now. If you’ve got space at your location that you’re not using or that could be revitalised, then apply for funding to transform it and enable local learning.

What’s the Re-imagining Learning Space Fund?

We are looking to support learning providers, museums, libraries, community spaces, VCSF sector and employer organisations re-imagine, redesign, and remake their physical and digital spaces in a way that enables different forms of learning to take place. Please Note: We do not anticipate funding the building of new physical spaces, but rather the adaptation of existing spaces. If you are not the Property/landowner, you will need to evidence their permission alongside your Expression of Interest. 

What’s the purpose of the funding?

To create spaces that make learning more accessible, engaging, and relevant, and will drive up engagement from residents aged 16+ with the local skills offer. In addition, the funding aims to support the creation of volunteering opportunities – with opportunities for local communities to get involved in redesigning the spaces. 

What type of activities might this include: 

Inclusivity and accessibility will be the guiding principles behind any redesign – applicants will need to demonstrate how the works undertaken will remove existing barriers to engagement. These spaces will make learning more accessible, engaging, and relevant, and will drive up engagement with the local skills offer. Whether this is physical or digital. 

We are open to fund a variety of spaces and costs as part of this grant and welcome creativity; we love to hear about all of the different and unique opportunities that you provide to the community look forward to hearing how you would like to use this grant 

Example activity might include: 

• A local library converting an unused space in an existing venue to house a tool library – investing in tools and learning materials that support local people to gain greater confidence in their ability to fix and maintain their belongings.   
• A refugee-focused agency redesigning rooms to create trauma-informed learning spaces such that they are supportive, calming, and welcoming. For example, by installing sound dampeners, creating quiet zones or installing storage to provide clear sightlines to windows and exits.  
• A museum showcasing their collections online, allowing people to digitally interact with these objects and learn about their history. These online learning experiences would then signpost learners to further learning, volunteering and progression opportunities. 
• A business re-imagining a space within their building into a training room to be used for various training opportunities, which could then support additional employment opportunities within the organisation. 
• A school to design an outdoor learning space which could encourage parents and families to come and grow their own produce and learn all about the sustainability of growing your own food. 

How much funding can I apply for?

Applications are invited for any amount up to a maximum value of £5000. If you would like to put forward a proposal for an amount in excess of this value please contact us at the email address below. The deadline to apply for this funding is 31st September 2024. We will then review all applications and award the most innovative and creative learning spaces. 

Am I eligible, what do I require?

• Bank Statement dated within the last 6 months
• Proof of ownership or agreement to be able to make changes to the space.
• Public liability insurance

I’m interested – what should I do next?

Please click find out more to locate the expression of interest form. We will then be able to send you the relevant documentation and application form for the funding stream you are applying for. We are also accepting Video applications for this area of funding. If you would like to send us a video application please state this on your expression of interest. 

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Remake Learning

Grant funding available now. This is for VCFS groups, organisations and businesses to bid for grant funding to develop new and engaging learning activities for ages 16+ and families. The activities must be engaging, inclusive, accessible, spark curiosity and passion and promote the development of both technical, practical, life and socio-emotional skills. Where possible the experiences should align to one or more of the following themes: STEM, maker, creative, Arts, and professional development. 

The purpose of this funding Is to give VCFS groups, organisations and businesses a chance to be creative and deliver a innovative hands on learning activity to ages 16+ and their families. We hope that this activity would spark curiosity into the industry and allow the participants to follow on from the activity by volunteering within the space or taking the activity up as a hobby.

What type of activities can I run?

Activities you run must be engaging, inclusive, accessible, spark curiosity and passion and promote the development of both technical, practical, life and socio-emotional skills.

For any questions on the funding and activities – email Education.Skills@doncaster.gov.uk

Where possible the experiences should align to one or more of the following themes:

• Science Technology Engineering or Mathematics (STEM)
• Maker
• Creative
• Arts
• Professional development

How much funding can I apply for?

Applications are invited in 3 tiers, Small £50-£250, Medium £250-£500, Large £500+. Grants are available on a rolling basis, until either March 2025 or the funding has been exhausted.

Am I eligible, what do I require?

• Evidence you have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training within the last two years?
• DBS Certificate of individuals running the Event/Activity 
• Risk Assessments for the Activity 
• Public Liability insurance certificate
• Health and Safety Policy
• Bank Statement dated within the last 6 months

I’m interested – what should I do next?

Please click find out more to locate the expression of interest form. We will then be able to send you the relevant documentation and application form for the funding stream you are applying for.

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Digital Skills Profile & Micro-credentialing

Building on the work which has already been driven by the Local Authority, in collaboration with Rethinking Assessment, to develop a prototype skills profile. The purpose of the profile is to provide every resident with a personal portfolio which showcases a record of other achievements, talents, abilities, attitudes and behaviours alongside their academic qualifications. This will enable people to better understand themselves and their strengths, make them better able to tell the story of who they are, what they know and what they can do, at different points in their lives; and to re-balance and broaden what is valued in formal education.

Next steps:

• This work will take the development of a skills profile to the next stage, by commissioning a suitable digital tech provider to co-design (in collaboration with local employers and learning providers) small, bite-sized units of learning and associated micro-badging. These will offer a more accessible and affordable route to continued learning and employment opportunities. The offer will link to and refer into existing services such as the START platform, Advance, and AFCL, driving up engagement in these wider support offers.
• The digital skills profile element will involve developing the digital infrastructure required to host the profiles; this would be shaped and tested with learners, employers and learning providers.
• The micro-credentialing element will involve working with employers and learning providers to shape officially recognised bite-sized units of learning that can be ‘stacked’ and promote pathways to further learning and employment opportunities.

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Projects funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

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Other funding and grant opportunities:

Business Doncaster provide FREE independent support and signposting to new and existing businesses and to individuals who have an idea for a business but do not know where to start with the financial side of things.

To see the latest funding and grant opportunities please click the buton below:

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Employment support:

Want to achieve more for your workforce? The dedicated team at Advance Doncaster are working with local people and is on hand to help you with your recruitment and skills needs. They provide a range of FREE support including:

• Training and skills development for staff
• Promotion of your careers within our sector prospectuses
• Apprenticeship advancement
• Recruiting and attracting new talent
• Employer Work Academies

To learn more about Advance Doncaster please click the button below:

Skills & Employability South Yorkshire is being delivered by City of Doncaster Council and is part-funded by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Sheffield City Council. This project is part-funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.