Yorkshire Building Society is to share £1m between four charities serving Bradford from a fund dedicated to improving employability in the district.
Bradford Central Foodbank, The Cellar Trust, Lower Grange Community Association and Smart Works have been given grants by Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation to support projects in some of Bradford’s most deprived wards over the next three years.
Laura Newton, Trustee of Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation, said: “The Building Bradford Skills Fund aims to address specific challenges around skills and employment faced by communities in Bradford.
“The funding will enable established charities to deliver targeted support in the areas that need it most, which will deliver real impact. Each of the beneficiaries demonstrated a clear understanding of the challenges faced by communities in Bradford and are offering innovative, place-based solutions.
“Supporting Bradford Central Foodbank, Smart Works, Lower Grange Community Association and The Cellar Trust to deliver their employment and skills programmes will help to transform the lives of thousands of people in the city and create a brighter future for many communities.”
Bradford Central Foodbank provides emergency food parcels to people in crisis. As well as providing food, it works to address some of the root causes of food poverty. The Charitable Foundation has funded a job coach at the Foodbank since 2022, who helps clients with job searching, CV writing, and job applications. Funding from the Building Bradford Skills Fund will allow this service to continue, as well as formalise the charity’s volunteer training and enable it to offer accredited courses in warehousing, manual handling, customer service, and food hygiene.
The Cellar Trust supports people with serious mental illness and those at risk of mental health crises in Bradford and surrounding areas, helping nearly 12,000 people annually. The charity uses a peer-led approach with staff and volunteers who have personal experience with mental health issues. The funding will support a Pathways to Employment service to support and empower people who have experienced mental health challenges into work. The service will offer one-to-one support from Employment Support Workers with lived experience of mental health issues and unemployment, and help clients move towards employment goals.
Smart Works supports unemployed women in Yorkshire by providing career coaching, interview clothing, and job success tools, with a view to boosting women’s confidence and helping them to secure employment. The funding will allow Smart Works to increase its presence in Bradford, addressing specific barriers faced by local women, and establishing a local team that will improve visibility and access to its services, with a long-term goal of embedding the service into the community.
Lower Grange Community Association aims to transform lives and break the cycle of unemployment in Bradford. It focuses on employability, breaking down barriers to employment, youth empowerment, and supporting entrepreneurship. The funding will enable the charity to deliver programmes, workshops and support services focused on important topics such as enhanced English for speakers of other languages, workplace English, digital skills, vocational training, entrepreneurship and youth employment accelerators.
