UK shared prosperity fund

Community grants programme

The community grant programme is for local grass roots activities, community engagement projects, training, projects or events that contribute to one or more of the following priorities: 

• increased local community action, engagement, and participation
• increased community resilience
• increased opportunities for volunteering
• financial inclusion
• improved access to facilities and services - particularly in rural communities
• development of local action plans and local networks and partnerships

Financials

• funding available:
  • 2023/2024 - £300,000
  • 2024/2025 - £300,000
• revenue funding 
• grants anticipated from £2,000 to £20,000
• assessment panel every two months 
• once open, applications will be welcome until 30 September 2024 - all projects will have to be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Next steps

This programme is now open to applications. Please see the community grants programme specification for further details.

We are particularly interested in applications that provide services, opportunities, and positive experiences for young people and families. 

The fund is open to not-for-profit organisations including charities, community groups, faith groups and social enterprises.

Village halls and community buildings grants

A capital grants fund to improve facilities in community buildings and village halls that result in greater community participation and levels of volunteering. The fund will support improvements to buildings and purchases of large capital equipment.

Financials

• funding available:
  • 2024/25 - £350,000
• capital funding 
• grants anticipated from £5,000 to £49,950
• all applications must be submitted by the 31 May 2024
• a panel will be held in June to award the final tranche of funding
• all successful applicants will be able to start work in July 2024

Next steps

This programme is now open to applications. Please see the village halls and community buildings grant programme specification for further details.

The fund is open to not-for-profit organisations who operate village halls and community buildings that are available for use by the whole community.

The funding for this programme is from the Rural Prosperity Fund and excludes the towns of Scarborough, Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Sport and active travel programme

This grant programme is available to extend and create opportunities to be physically active, play sport and improve connectivity through active travel.

Financials

The funding available for this programme is:

• £150,000 for 2023 to 2024
• £575,000 for 2024 to 2025 
• a mix of capital and revenue funding  
• grants anticipated from £3,000 to £20,000

Additional information

The fund is open and applications will be welcome until 30 September 2024 or until all funds have been allocated. All projects will have to be fully completed by 31 March 2025.

Applicants will be assigned a case manager within ten working days and then a monthly panel will assess each project.

Requests for capital projects should have planning permission, where required, in place as the work will need to be complete by March 2025. In most cases we will also need to see evidence of two quotations for the work.

Applications should not be made for:

• projects which are aimed at school facilities - unless it can be strongly demonstrated that the focus is on the use of the school as a community facility
• continuation of existing projects - we are happy to build on existing ideas or pilots, but do not want to be funding extra time on existing projects
• projects that are purely commercial - sole traders may apply in conjunction with a not-for-profit group
• projects that offer poor value for money

For more information and to apply, please visit the Place, Spaces, People page on the North Yorkshire Sport website.

Building pride in our places grants programme

With strong links to North Yorkshire Council’s priorities, this programme is focused on:

• investing in high streets and town centres, where projects align with the needs and interests of community groups, local businesses, or other town centre stakeholders
• strengthening our arts, cultural and heritage assets, and supporting activities that enhance local pride amongst residents 
• supporting the development of the visitor economy in our key destination localities

Financials

• total funding allocation:
  • 2023/2024 - £1,300,000
  • 2024/2025 - £3,000,000
• capital and revenue funding
• applications between £15,000 and £400,000 will be considered
• appraisal panel every two to three months
• for projects with total costs over £25,000, applicants are advised to secure 50% match funding

Next steps

This programme is now closed to new applications.

Following an incredibly successful first round of this programme in 2023 and 2024, during which a total of £750,000 was awarded to micro and small businesses across the North Yorkshire region, a review of the programme was carried out. We made a few minor changes, based on the feedback we received from customers and staff involved in the programme:

• making the programme specification more user-friendly
• improving the application form

We’re pleased to announce that round 2 of the small business grants programme will be open on Monday 6 May. We have earmarked £1 million for grants and wider business support. The new specification will be available shortly. The application form will be available nearer to the programme opening date.

The earliest we can accept applications is Monday 6 May. We can't accept earlier applications, or application sent on the previous application form.

We have also seen a significant increase in the number of new and existing businesses keen to access wider business support in addition to the financial grants. Other forms of support, information and advice are still available - find out more on the York and North Yorkshire Growth Hub website.

Green skills training programme for careers leaders

To fund the design and delivery of a training programme for careers leaders, supporting their increased knowledge and confidence in green skills and careers advice. This activity will focus on but is not limited to the delivery of training to careers leaders in schools and colleges, as well as independent careers advisors.

Financials

• funding available: 2023/2024 - £25,000
• all revenue funding
• all delivery must be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Green construction skills - retrofit training programme

Research/consultation has shown a significant amount of social housing across North Yorkshire is in need of retrofitting, including renewable heating systems, ventilation and insulation. This fund aims to address the lack of current workforce with the necessary skills to undertake the work by developing and delivering a comprehensive training programme. The programme will focus on (but not be limited to):

• retrofit assessor training
• retrofit co-ordination and management
• trades/operatives training in renewables installation and maintenance - including Solar PV and air source heat pumps
• support to become MCS accredited

Financials

• funding available: 2023/2024 - £215,000
• revenue funding
• all projects developed under this programme, including all partner delivery, must be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Next steps

We are looking for a lead provider or providers to design and deliver the programme of training existing workforce across North Yorkshire.

Applications are welcomed from partnerships, individual organisations and include voluntary, community, public and private sector organisations.

For lead providers, the route to market for this programme is through a procurement process via an Approved Provider List (APL), developed by North Yorkshire Council. The Approved Provider List is a pre-approval process enabling skills provision to be contracted and delivered more effectively and efficiently in response to the needs of the local area.

Please register on YorTender if you have not already done so. The Approved Provider List will enable successful providers to then bid for a range of contracts for skills provision. This includes the North Yorkshire UKSPF Green Skills Retrofit Training Programme, Engaging and Progressing People programme, and the Attracting New Investment through Strategic Growth, Specialist Skills programme.

How to register

We publish all our opportunities open to the market on YORtender.

The procurement process is conducted via YORtender from expressing your interest, downloading documents to submission of bids. You need to register your business on YORtender to access our opportunities. Registration is free. You can register your information on eu-supply.com.

YORtender is the procurement portal for the Yorkshire and Humber Region. once you are registered you will be eligible to receive email alerts from other councils across the region about upcoming tenders or bids.

The APL is now open and will remain open. The first round of the APL will end after four weeks (midday on 7 March 2024). For the purposes of providers interested in UKSPF Programmes please complete the documents as soon as possible and within the first four weeks. Here is the link to the APL.

The next stage of the process will be a mini procurement (call off) for the UKSPF Programmes and only for those successful in the APL process. This process will commence on 1 April and will close on 12 April. A link to the tender documents will be sent to all those who have been successful on the APL.

The current timescales for the procurement process for these programmes is below. The planned start date for all contracts has been delayed by one month, so delivery will occur over an 11-month period only now, ending on 31 March 2025.

Community climate action programme - support

The aim of this strand of the community climate action programme is to address knowledge and funding gaps, enabling the development of community-led climate action projects in North Yorkshire. The support provided will include:

• trusted specialist advice - for example, identifying projects, accessing investment, developing climate action plans, overcoming challenges
• place-based decarbonisation plans, either for community buildings or via a ‘whole-place-approach', for example a village or community setting

Organisations may use the advice and decarbonisation plans provided to help them apply for capital or revenue grants via the community climate action programme (grants).

Financials

• decarbonisation plans must be completed before February 2025
• up to 20 decarbonisation plans will be funded

Next steps

Please see the community climate action support programme specification for further details.

Community climate action programme - grants

The aim of this strand of the community climate action programme is to provide revenue and capital grants for greenhouse gas reduction or climate adaptation activities, for example, minimising waste, shifting to low carbon transport.

Financials

• grant funding between £1,000 to £49,950 available at 80% (for instance, 20% match funding is required)
• total funding available: £613,000 (revenue and capital grants) until February 2025
• projects must be delivered before February 2025
• applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the funds are fully allocated

Next steps

Please see the community climate action grants programme specification for further details.

Business sustainability programme - support

The aim of this strand of the Business Net Zero Programme is to address knowledge and funding gaps that are currently preventing North Yorkshire-based micro, small and medium sized businesses, under 250 staff, including sole traders and CICs, from taking effective action on net-zero. The support provided will include:

• trusted specialist advice, for example, business models, adaptation plans, legislation
• sustainability audits, including advice on action areas

Businesses may use the advice and net zero sustainability audits provided to help them apply for capital or revenue grants via the Business Sustainability Programme (grants).

Financials

• audits must be completed by February 2025
• up to 50 audits will be funded

Next steps

Please see the business sustainability support programme specification for further details.

Business sustainability programme - grants

New applications to the Business Sustainability grant programme have now been paused.

The grants programme has been very popular since its launch in September 2023.  Over £200,000 has been approved for various projects, including the installation of LED lighting, waste management systems, solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.  We believe we have now received sufficient applications to allocate the remainder of the budget.  The programme has therefore been paused to give us time to review the grant requests we have so far.  
We thank everyone who has applied and worked with us to date. Decarbonisation support and specialist advice can still be obtained via our Business Sustainability support programme.
 

The aim of this strand of the Business Net Zero Programme is to address funding gaps that are currently preventing North Yorkshire-based micro, small and medium sized businesses, under 250 staff, including sole traders and CICs, from taking effective action on net-zero. The support provided will consist of revenue and capital grants.

Financials

• capital grants of between £500 to £49,950 at 60-80%, such as match funding is required, will be available for activity in the following areas:
  • energy: decarbonising our energy system, including increasing renewable energy generation, energy efficiency and grid infrastructure, and shifting towards low carbon transport
  • circular economy/minimising waste: making the most of our resources, buildings and people
  • natural environment: enhancing our environment and supporting nature to thrive
  • activity must support climate mitigation, such as reducing and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions, and/or climate adaptation, such as preparing for the changing climate
• total funding available: £521,000 (revenue and capital grants) until February 2025
• applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the funds are fully allocated
• projects must be completed by February 2025

Next steps

Please see the business sustainability grant programme specification for further details.

Elderly people’s residential care homes net zero audits

This programme will address funding and knowledge gaps preventing North Yorkshire-based elderly peoples residential care home businesses taking effective action on net-zero and aid the development and delivery of net-zero interventions for this sector. It will provide support through decarbonisation audits. These audits will review energy efficiency, heating systems, renewable energy generation and storage options, low carbon transport, circular economy opportunities and supporting nature initiatives.

Businesses may use the audit recommendations provided to help them apply for capital or revenue grants via the shared prosperity funds Business Sustainability Programme (grants).

Financials

• up to 30 Net Zero audits will be funded
• audits must be completed by February 2025

Next steps

Please see the elderly people's residential care homes support programme specification for further details.

Farm sustainability programme

Applications for this support are expected to open after April 2024. More information will be provided when the programme opens.

The aim of the farm sustainability programme is to support farm businesses to become more financially and environmentally sustainable. This programme is currently being developed, using the findings of the ‘Farm Energy Audit Pilot’. Support may include farm energy audits, farm carbon footprints, specialist advice around precision agriculture techniques and regenerative agriculture practices.

• up to 50 audits will be funded
• audits must be completed by February 2025
• farm businesses with up to 50 employees can apply
• priority will be given to farms ready to implement the recommended sustainability measures.

Engaging and progressing people

This fund is aimed at the development and delivery of key worker specialist intervention support model designed to break down barriers for:

• economically inactive people to help them move towards education, training, and employment
• people in work to support them to stay in work and progress their career

The activity will focus on but not be limited to:

• key worker support
• mental/physical health support
• financial wellbeing support
• employability support and training
• information, advice and guidance

Financials

• funding available: £2,000,000 - 2024/2025
• all revenue funding
• all projects developed under this programme, including all partner delivery must be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Next steps

Our preferred option is to seek a lead provider to develop, coordinate and manage a delivery partnership of providers covering both the key worker role and specialist intervention support for both inactive residents and those in work.

Applications are welcome from partnerships, individual organisations and include voluntary, community, public and private sector organisations.

Applicants should consider the following activity:

• keyworker support
• mental/physical health support
• financial wellbeing support
• employability support and training
• information, advice and guidance

For lead providers, the route to market for this programme is through a procurement process via an Approved Provider List (APL), developed by North Yorkshire Council. The Approved Provider List is a pre-approval process enabling skills provision to be contracted and delivered more effectively and efficiently in response to the needs of the local area.

Please register on YorTender if you have not already done so. The Approved Provider List will enable successful providers to then bid for a range of contracts for skills provision. This includes the North Yorkshire UKSPF Green Skills Retrofit Training Programme, Engaging and Progressing People programme, and the Attracting New Investment through Strategic Growth, Specialist Skills programme.

How to register

We publish all our opportunities open to the market on YORtender.

The procurement process is conducted via YORtender from expressing your interest, downloading documents to submission of bids. You need to register your business on YORtender to access our opportunities. Registration is free. You can register your information on eu-supply.com.

YORtender is the procurement portal for the Yorkshire and Humber Region. once you are registered you will be eligible to receive email alerts from other councils across the region about upcoming tenders or bids.

The APL is now open and will remain open. The first round of the APL will end after four weeks (midday on 7 March 2024). For the purposes of providers interested in UKSPF Programmes please complete the documents as soon as possible and within the first four weeks. Here is the link to the APL.

The next stage of the process will be a mini procurement (call off) for the UKSPF Programmes and only for those successful on the APL process. This process will commence on 1 April and will close on 12 April. A link to the tender documents will be sent to all those who have been successful on the APL.

The current timescales for the procurement process for these programmes is below. The planned start date for all contracts has been delayed by one month, so delivery will occur over an 11-month period only now, ending on 31 March 2025.

Increasing levels of digital inclusion

This funding will provide support to enable voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, including community groups managing village halls and community buildings, to access resources and training to become ‘digital hubs’. The aim of the support will be to:

• improve levels of digital connectivity for local facilities
• support volunteers to become digital buddies 
• increase the level of community engagement, confidence, and skills to access digital services

What are we looking for?

We are looking for organisations to play a pivotal role in helping design the funding and training available throughout North Yorkshire for digital projects in 2024/2025.

Who can help?

If your organisation or community group is interested in providing or already provides support for people to use online services, then we want to hear from you.  It is more important than ever that that people are aware of what is available online and have the confidence and skills to be able to access what they need.

What you need to do

We are interested in engaging organisations or groups to explore opportunities for establishing digital hubs, digital volunteer buddies, and the provision of training and learning. These conversations will help shape the funding on offer through the UKSPF in North Yorkshire in 2024/2025.

Please contact the team at ukspf@northyorks.gov.uk by 1 March 2024.

Community based information advice and guidance

To improve access to high quality information, advice and guidance for residents, those both working and non-working, within their local communities. This funding will support the development and delivery of training for workers and volunteers to be more confident in their information, advice and guidance support offer. Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations across North Yorkshire will be able to access support and resources to build capacity in and improve access to information, advice, and guidance for local people.

The programme will begin in April 2024. Information on how to get involved will be posted here once the programme opens.

Specialist sector skills

To fund the development and delivery of training to businesses and their supply chain who are working within the five priority sectors identified as being critical to delivering economic growth in the region and the foundation sectors which significantly impact the local economy.

The five priority sectors are:

• agri-tec innovation
• sustainable energy and bioeconomy
• digital technology, data and creative industries
• advanced manufacturing including transport technology
• health, life sciences innovation

The foundation sectors are:

• the visitor economy
• construction
• health and social care

We are seeking innovative approaches to the delivery of training in all 5 areas in order to meet the practical needs of these industry sectors.

Financials

• funding available: £288,000 - 2024/2025
• all revenue funding
• all projects developed under this programme, including all partner delivery must be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Next steps

We are seeking a lead provider or providers and applications are welcome from partnerships and individual organisations, including voluntary, community, public and private sector organisations.

Examples of vocational qualifications include but are not limited to:

• warehousing
• scaffolding
• construction vehicle licenses

Training that can be supported by this funding:

• technical and vocational qualifications and licenses
• courses up to level 2 - higher level training dependent on need and funding
• identifying needs, gaps and potential solutions/bespoke responses.

For lead providers, the route to market for this programme is through a procurement process via an Approved Provider List (APL), developed by North Yorkshire Council. The Approved Provider List is a pre-approval process enabling skills provision to be contracted and delivered more effectively and efficiently in response to the needs of the local area.

Please register on YorTender if you have not already done so. The Approved Provider List will enable successful providers to then bid for a range of contracts for skills provision. This includes the North Yorkshire UKSPF Green Skills Retrofit Training Programme, Engaging and Progressing People programme, and the Attracting New Investment through Strategic Growth, Specialist Skills programme.

How to register

We publish all our opportunities open to the market on YORtender.

The procurement process is conducted via YORtender from expressing your interest, downloading documents to submission of bids. You need to register your business on YORtender to access our opportunities. Registration is free. You can register your information on eu-supply.com.

YORtender is the procurement portal for the Yorkshire and Humber Region. once you are registered you will be eligible to receive email alerts from other councils across the region about upcoming tenders or bids.

The APL is now open and will remain open. The first round of the APL will end after four weeks (midday on 7 March 2024). For the purposes of providers interested in UKSPF Programmes please complete the documents as soon as possible and within the first four weeks. Here is the link to the APL.

The next stage of the process will be a mini procurement (call off) for the UKSPF Programmes and only for those successful on the APL process. This process will commence on 1 April and will close on 12 April. A link to the tender documents will be sent to all those who have been successful on the APL.

The current timescales for the procurement process for these programmes is below. The planned start date for all contracts has been delayed by one month, so delivery will occur over an 11-month period only now, ending on 31 March 2025.

Support for young and older people

This programme is now closed to new applications.

An innovative grant pot that can support projects to provide additional targeted and intensive support to young people and older people to help them access, sustain and progress in training and employment. 

Priority areas for work will include: 

• pre 'not in education, employment, or training' preventative work with young people 14-18
• support for graduates
• support for young people 18-24 including mental health support
• support for over 50s to re-engage in labour market
• intergenerational programmes 

Financials

• funding available: £336,000 - 2024/2025
• all revenue funding
• all delivery must be fully completed by 31 March 2025
• all projects developed under this programme, including all partner delivery must be fully completed by 31 March 2025

Next steps

Please see the support for young and older people grants programme specification for further details.

Green skills 

The funding for green skills includes funding for:

• the green skills training programme for career leaders
• the green construction skills - retrofit training programme