AKG has announced the Round 3 awardees of its Community Investment Fund, a £200,000 programme designed to drive sustainable local change. This funding round supports four community-led projects that help people in East Central England move closer to employment and realise their potential through innovative and practical approaches.
The Community Investment Fund was established under the DWP Restart Scheme to address barriers many people face when seeking work, including lack of access to training, digital exclusion, caring responsibilities, and mental health challenges. The fund uses data, insights, and lived experiences to identify organisations best placed to understand local needs, ensuring support delivers long-term impact rather than one-off assistance.
The Round 3 beneficiaries include Belina Grow, which supports women furthest from the labour market, particularly mothers and carers in Leicester. Using their Grow App, online training, and local partners, they will now integrate AI tools to enhance digital confidence, job readiness, and community support networks. Diverse FM’s Pathway 2 Success programme combines life coaching, skills training, and creative radio experience to build participants’ confidence, practical skills, and sustainable employment prospects over 12 weeks plus six months of mentoring.
Everyone’s Gang runs the RESIST and BREAKOUT programmes, working with schools and at-risk youth to prevent gang involvement and exploitation. Through workshops and intensive mentoring, they provide emotional support and practical strategies for safer, more hopeful futures. Grantham Creates’ Art and Growth initiative supports unemployed individuals from working-class backgrounds or with mental health issues or neurodivergence. Over a year, participants engage in workshops, mentoring, exhibitions, and business training to develop creative skills, confidence, and routes into employment, self-employment, or further education.
These projects demonstrate the power of local, flexible, and creative organisations to address community needs effectively. AKG emphasises that the fund is not just about investing in projects but in people and their communities, fostering confidence, skills, and opportunities that can lead to lasting social impact.
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