The Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund: Veterans' Career Development Fund

Overview

About the Veterans’ Career Development Fund

This programme will contribute to the Government’s Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan ambition which identifies that “Stable long-term employment opportunities after Service are the foundation of positive life outcomes for Veterans, and we know that Veterans all over the country are leaving Service equipped with skills and expertise that benefit not only themselves but our economy too.”

Under this programme the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust will award grants on behalf of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs towards projects that contribute to the ambition of this mission statement. It will do this by supporting experienced organisations which can create and promote opportunities for Veterans and their families looking to enter employment, and those already in employment who have the aspiration to progress in their careers, to acquire, or work towards acquiring, supplementary qualifications, technical training and skills.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, your organisation must be one of the following:

• A UK university
• A registered charity registered in the UK (with one or more of the charity commissions for England and Wales, or Scotland or Northern Ireland) for at least three years at the time of your application and able to provide published accounts for all three years if requested.
• A Community Interest Company (CIC) registered in the UK for at least three years at the time of your application and able to provide published accounts for all three years if requested. 

You must also be able to demonstrate the involvement of an experienced provider of accredited and industry relevant qualifications. This organisation could be the main applicant or could be a partner within the project.

Full eligibility details are available in the programme guidance document.

What’s available?

Grants of up to £70,000 are available for projects of up to two years.

Where an organisation is bidding for multiple schemes, each scheme should be separately costed, but combined as a single application not exceeding £70K.

They will only award one grant per organisation. You can include more than one area of delivery within your application.

Eligible Costs

Your project might include the following costs.

• Staff time for this fixed-term project. This could be direct project work or for admin or to manage volunteers that may be involved in your project.
• Sessional staff or freelancers that you may need to run your project and activity.
• Reasonable travel costs including fares or mileage for project staff, volunteers or beneficiaries to enable participation in the project.
• Purchasing items that can enable activities to take place. This may include art materials; sports/games/outdoor equipment; supplies for breakfast or social hubs.
• Purchasing items that will help you to deliver your project, such as additional telephones or laptops.
• Reasonable costs for storing and transporting items, including wear and tear on private vehicles.
• Reasonable overheads, which reflect the cost to your organisation of delivering this project, taking account of recent cost increases.
• Appropriate clinical supervision for workers who are supporting vulnerable individuals.

Themes and priorities

Under this programme, they will look to make fund projects that can deliver sustainable change.

Your project should be:

• Aspirational
• Inclusive
• Collaborative

Above all, your project should support Veterans who face challenges in the wider labour market and enable them to gain formal qualifications.

What type of project are they looking for?

They are looking for projects that can be clear about the support that their project will offer, how many Veterans and their families will benefit and the outcomes that your project will deliver.

Your project should enable Veterans and their families to access and achieve recognised qualifications that will support them to find employment that matches their skills and interests.

This may include helping a cohort of Veterans to acquire a qualification, help them in achieving credits towards a significant qualification or assist them on a pathway towards a qualification which, with your organisation’s help, they can realistically pursue.

Successful projects...

• Support veterans who face challenges in the wider labour market
• Enable vaterans to obtain formal qualifications
• Collaborate with others
• Measure impact

Your project must not duplicate provision from any current government provided or funded provision of a similar nature. This means that your project must be complimentary in nature without directly duplicating any existing provision.

• Good projects are aspirational and innovative – offering individuals the chance to obtain, or work towards obtaining qualifications.
• A good project will develop new ways of reaching Veterans and their families, including those of specific life experiences and backgrounds. It should seek to inspire, support and engage participants.
• A good project would be able to clearly show how it is Veteran focused in delivery, enabling Veterans and their families to access or work towards fulfilling employment and a solid career path.
• They particularly welcome projects which seek to engage with groups beyond the mainstream Veteran population such as women Veterans, those of Ethnic Minority background, LGBT Veterans, those with health or support needs, early Service leavers and those aged 50+ looking to re-enter the workforce. This should also include opportunities where possible for Veterans’ families including partners, spouses, children (aged 16-24) and the bereaved.
• A strong application will also be able to show how you will work effectively and collaboratively with existing partners in the UK Veterans’ employment space such as, employers, industry bodies, third sector groups and other relevant authorities and organisations.
  • In addition, where activity is focused on or covers specific nations or regions within the UK, an application which takes account of and seeks to align in so far as practicable and possible with Devolved Administration and Local Authority economic considerations is particularly welcome.

See Guidance Notes for further information.