£100k boost to 11 community projects working to improve social mobility

The train operator’s Customer & Community Improvement Fund opened for applications in May with schemes that focussed on early careers, education outreach and inclusive employment encouraged to apply.

Major grants of £20,000 were awarded to Pudsey-based Building Futures Together and to Scope for their ‘Youth Community Collective’ scheme in Leeds. 

Building Futures Together will use the funds to deliver a vocational work experience programme for people interested in a career as a plumber or an electrician, while Scope’s work will focus on helping disabled young people improve their skills and confidence.

Grants of £10,000 were given to:

• Olympias Music Foundation for its ‘Learn to Play’ initiative, which provides free music lessons for children aged 6-18 from low-income backgrounds in Longsight
• The Look Ahead project in Wakefield, which supports 16-year-olds to gain qualifications in beauty and nail services
• The Work For All scheme, which supports older people that have been out of work to regain confidence, presentation and interview skills across Derbyshire and Tameside
• Neurodiverse Community Catterick for their ‘Pride in Youth Ability’ project, which will promote independence and confidence for young neurodivergent people
• High Peak Community Arts for their ‘Social Mobility Through The Arts’ project to deliver training, volunteering and leadership experience for people in Gamesley (Glossop) and Fairfield (Buxton).

Smaller grants of £2,500 have been given to Improving Lives, a scheme that provides training in employability skills such as customer service, retail, time management and communication; Keeping Digital Foundation in York, which helps young people develop the vital skills required to support careers in STEM fields; NMC Design+Print in Winsford, who will provide vocational training in graphic design for young people with muscular dystrophy; and Special Needs Under Fives in Bolton, which supports special needs children in an early years settings.

Tricia Williams, managing director of Northern, said: “Helping to improve social mobility across our network is something we see as really important.

“Transport connectivity is itself a vital element of the wider support structure - but the organisations we’ve awarded grants to as part of this year’s Customer & Community Improvement Fund are specialists with direct, hands-on experience.

“With our support, these groups can make a huge difference to people’s lives and we look forward to hearing the many success stories that will follow.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.