Skills for the Future is a grants programme for projects which provide paid work-based training placements to meet a skills shortage in the heritage sector and help diversify the workforce. Grants will be from £100,000 to £750,000.

In two previous rounds, in 2010 and 2014, our trustees awarded grants to 93 projects, investing £47m across the UK. To date, 40 projects have completed, over 1,700 trainees have been recruited and 1,300 of those have finished their placement.

On 24 June 2016, we will publish guidance and forms on our website when the programme opens to applications. There will be a two-round application process, with 29 September the deadline for first round applications.

Pre-application workshops

If you would like to register for one of our information workshops then please book via Eventbrite.

If you experience any issues booking a place or you can’t attend a workshop but would like to receive an alert when programme guidance is ready, please email the Skills team.

Please see the details below:

Dates

• Edinburgh: 27 June (afternoon)
• London: 29 June (morning)
• Belfast: 30 June (afternoon)
• Cardiff: 1 July (morning)
• Nottingham: 8 July (morning)
• Birmingham: 11 July (afternoon)
• Leeds: 13 July (afternoon)
• London: 26 July (morning)

Programme priorities

The programme is intended to:

• fund high quality, paid work-based training opportunities
• provide placements that equip people with the skills to pursue a career in heritage
• address identified skills shortages in the heritage sector
• increase the diversity of the heritage workforce
• enhance the capacity of the heritage sector to deliver sustainable training and share good practice

We will assess projects against three outcomes. With our Skills for the Future investment:

• people will have developed skills
• people will have learnt about heritage
• more people and a wider range of people will have engaged with heritage. This outcome will be weighted in our assessment. Our Trustees would like to see strong proposals for the recruitment of a diverse range of people into the heritage sector