Apply for share of £35k in Skills & Opportunities funding

Eligible projects or project ideas should be focussed on financial capability and enterprise and community organisations are invited to apply for grants at: skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com/apply/.

Ulster Bank has a strong interest in supporting and strengthening the communities it serves. The Skills & Opportunities Fund plays an important part in supporting this commitment, as Sean Murphy, Managing Director, Personal Banking NI explains: “We are extremely happy that the Fund has had such a positive impact in the three years since its launch, distributing funding to great local initiatives and organisations, and helping people and their wider communities.”

One organisation that has recently benefitted from Skills & Opportunities funding is the Causeway Enterprise Agency, a charity delivering business support, workspace units and enterprise training along the North Coast. They commented: “We’re delighted that the Ulster Bank Skills & Opportunities funding has allowed us to support 10 young, talented people from rural and deprived areas towards starting their own creative business.

“The training, mentoring and facilities that we can offer through our Designerie programme has really allowed the young people’s talent to shine through and we’re very excited to see what the future holds for them.”

Further case studies can be viewed at: skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com/winners – providing plenty of inspiration for community organisations that are considering applying for the current round of funding: Round 1, 2018.

Applications open until Friday, February 23. A shortlist of projects in each region will be put to the public vote from Friday, April 6 to Friday, April 20, with the winners being announced on Friday, May 25.

More information, including full eligibility criteria and how to apply, is available at: http://skillsandopportunitiesfund.ulsterbank.com.