Grants for charities

We provide grants and wider support to charities that can deliver innovative, practical skills and employment opportunities for individuals facing barriers to work.

The programmes we fund are often experimental in nature, and help prove that through taking a creative, targeted approach to widening talent pools and supporting harder to reach groups, we can build a better, fairer, more productive society.

We are currently focused on:

Helping prisoners gain skills and move into lasting employment on release
Removing barriers faced by refugees to develop skills and get meaningful work
Supporting people at Critical Transition Points in their lives and careers

The latest Charity partner stories on the City & Guilds Foundation website:

Empowering Young Carers: Building Skills, Confidence, and Future Pathways

by Lauren Roberts | 31 Jul 2025 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, Lived Experience, News, News & events, Social Impact

At the City & Guilds Foundation, our mission is all about removing barriers to get a job, helping people get on the job and advocating for jobs of the future. We work closely with our charity partners to help support individuals that face barriers into a job. We’re proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Carers Trust. Young carers in the UK play a crucial role in the economy, providing significant support and value. Their contributions are estimated to be worth £184...

Listen. Learn. Support. What Refugee Week Reminds Us about Community

by Lauren Roberts | 23 Jun 2025 | Awareness Raising, Campaigning, Charity partners, Lived Experience, News, News & events, Our networks, Refugee support, Social Impact

At City & Guilds, we believe in the life-changing power of skills. But we also know that skills alone aren’t always enough to help people succeed. That’s why, through the City & Guilds Foundation we’ve been working with grassroots charities and partners since 2022 to help refugees and displaced people access training, build confidence, and find meaningful work. Here’s a little bit about the impact we’re making. Since launching our Displaced People Fund in 2022, we’ve: Supported...

Celebrating the achievements of young people with Positive Youth Foundation

by Faiza Khan MBE | 21 Jan 2025 | Charity partners, Funding, News, News & events, Our networks, Refugee support

It was an absolute honour last week to address the graduating cohort from Positive Youth Foundation - a day brimming with celebration, inspiration, and pride. For those not familiar, Positive Youth Foundation (PYF) supports newly arrived young people to the UK, aged 16-25, in Coventry. Initially established in 2011 as a youth charity to support young people in the city, in 2015 PYF created its Involved Programme to support the integration of newly arrived refugee and asylum-seeking young...

Funding for makers: Applications for QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) Grants open until 10 Feb

by Stuart Tucker | 9 Jan 2025 | Bursaries, Charity partners, News, Our networks

Sustaining vital skills in traditional and contemporary crafts QEST offers three grants to support makers and conservators at various career stages. Grants are available for education and training, with Scholarships of up to £18,000, Emerging Maker grants of up to £10,000, and up to £12,000 towards an apprentice’s salary. Since their founding in 1990, QEST have awarded £7 million to almost 900 individuals working across a broad range of disciplines including in glassblowing, thatching, guitar...

Inspiration and innovation at HMP Pentonville with XO Bikes

by Polly Rowe | 9 Oct 2024 | Charity partners, Critical transition points, Funding, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, News & events, Our networks, Prisoners and ex-offenders, Social Impact

Since we created the City & Guilds Foundation in 2019, one of our key funding activities has been identifying and activating practical ways to support those who have been in Prison (or at risk of entering Prison) to build skills and secure, and sustain, employment. We know that there is a recognised and agreed need to reduce reoffending, and evidence shows that upskilling prisoners, together with stable accommodation and support is the most effective way to recidivism. Our £1m Big Idea...

How Catch22 is supporting individuals into entry-level green sector roles

by Laura Mountain | 7 Oct 2024 | Campaigning, Charity partners, Green skills, News, News & events, Our networks

We know that the cost of training can be a huge obstacle to accessing the skills needed to get into work. This makes it even more challenging to those already facing barriers in society. That’s why over 20 years ago we established our bursary programme: to support those in financial need to access training and development which will lead to sustainable employment. We focus particularly on awarding funding in sectors where more skilled workers will be needed in the future. So when we heard that...

Green Start: A transformative programme continuing to empower ex-offenders from Groundwork

by Polly Rowe | 21 Jun 2024 | Case studies, Charity partners, Lived Experience, News, Prisoners and ex-offenders

Last year, we reported on the inspiring work being carried out by Groundwork, a UK-wide alliance of charities that brings communities together to tackle poverty and environmental challenges. Committed to creating opportunities for all, they launched their Green Start programme in 2021 in partnership with the City & Guilds Foundation to equip prison leavers with construction, carbon literacy and green skills. The programme has exceeded expectations, with positive prisoner outcomes, a...

Foundation & Friends Podcast: Unlocking Hidden Refugee Talent with Jessica Ridgewell from Breaking Barriers

by Natasha Kalinga | 19 Jun 2024 | Awareness Raising, Charity partners, Lived Experience, Podcasts, Refugee support

How employers can harness the potential of refugee candidates While many UK employers will be aware of the social value associated with supporting refugees, not all will be aware of how best to harness the talent and experience that refugees can bring to the workplace. In this podcast, host Lauren Roberts is joined by Jessica Ridgewell, Head of Corporate Partnerships, Breaking Barriers, who shares her experience of helping major UK businesses to access, integrate and benefit from refugee...

Skills Share 2024: a room full of training royalty

by Polly Rowe | 15 May 2024 | Awards, Awards alumni, Charity partners, City & Guilds initiatives, News, News & events, Our networks, Princess Royal Training Awards

On 1 May 2024 we launched our first ever Skills Share event at Guildhall, London. This was a space to network and learn from the 200+ organisations who have successfully achieved a Princess Royal Training Award over the past nine years (for some up to seven times for different award programmes!). We were delighted that The President of the City & Guilds of London Institute, HRH The Princess Royal was also able to join us and share her own valuable insights of the Awards – that are in her...

Creating collective impact in the rehabilitation sector

by Mike Ormand | 21 Mar 2024 | Charity partners, Future Skills Commission for Prisons, News, News & events, Prisoners and ex-offenders

This is a guest post by Ian Bickers, Founder of Unlocking Justice and member of our Future Skills Commission for Prisons. When the City & Guilds Foundation organised a day bringing together the people they are partnering with in the rehabilitation space, I was delighted to be asked to speak at it and share some of my own learnings from 20 years of working in, and with, prisons. My first impression from the day was the sheer amount of knowledge and experience gathered in the room. From...

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