NATWEST is set to give away £1 million in the first of two rounds of Skills and Opportunities funding in 2017 and groups across the South West are urged to apply.

Since the Skills and Opportunities Fund was launched in 2015 NatWest has granted £598,221.52 to 30 organisations in the South West, reaching more than 7,000 people.

Across the UK and Ireland, grants of up to £35,000 each have enabled 186 not-for-profit organisations to support people in some of the most deprived communities.

In total, the RBS group has donated £5 million to help people access the skills and opportunities required to gain employment, progress in education or start their own business.

This year, in order to maximise regional impact, changes are being made to how the fund is distributed, as well as to the eligibility criteria, which will ensure that funding reaches the causes that customers care most about.

The fund will continue to be open to applications from not-for-profit organisations including charities, community groups, social enterprises and state-funded schools and colleges in the UK and Ireland that help people to help themselves.

However, NatWest says the focus for funding will now move specifically to projects that support people in disadvantaged communities to gain financial capability skills, or to start or develop a new business, now or in the future.

Ross McEwan, CEO, said: “Since we launched the Skills and Opportunities Fund in May 2015 we’ve had more than 3,500 applications; shortlisted 367 of these and, thanks to more than 110,000 votes, we’ve awarded a total of £5 million to 186 organisations.

“As the fund has evolved we’ve taken the opportunity to make some changes.

"We hope that by giving the fund more focus on enterprise and building financial capability in disadvantaged communities we will see even more not-for-profit organisations applying and an even greater number of people voting for the causes they care about.

"It’s going to be a very exciting year, with lots of opportunities for everyone to get involved in making a difference.”

Applications for the current round close at noon on Friday, February 24.

For further details, visit: skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.co.uk .

Alan Quick