North West organisations compete for share of £2.5m NatWest fund

Ten North West organisations are competing for a slice of a £2.5m community fund launched by NatWest.

In the final stages of its seven-figure Skills & Opportunities Fund – launched to help boost skills, employment and entrepreneurialism in disadvantaged communities – the bank has called on the public to vote for the organisations they want to receive a share of the cash.

A total of 90 UK organisations are currently in the running and those with the most votes will receive up to £35k each in May.

Business For Good, a Blackpool-based business enablement programme, is one of the North West names to have made the final. The organisation is seeking to create 18 new social enterprises generating 25 jobs.

Another of the region’s organisations in the running is Bolton Lads and Girls Club’s Taste of Enterprise, which hopes to engage 120 socially or economically disadvantaged young people by encouraging entrepreneurism and improving financial literacy skills.

Merseystart, a Liverpool scheme set up to help the city’s entrepreneurs bring their business ideas to fruition, has also been shortlisted.

The other North West organisations going before the public vote are: My Money Matters; RE-Start, Gorton; Tree of Life Financial Inclusion for Wythenshawe Families and Individuals; Community Bazar; Financial Capability for families via SureStart Children’s Centres; Beyond Crisis Through Good Money Management; and Money & Me/Money Mentors.

The chairman of NatWest’s North Regional Board, Richard Topliss, said: “We received an excellent response from organisations across the North when we launched the Skills & Opportunities Fund last year and awarded 20 worthy groups funding.

“Once again we’ve been impressed with the standard of the entries we’ve received and we look forward to being able to help even more worthy causes achieve their aims.”

He added: “It’s going to be a very difficult decision now to choose the ultimate winners of this round – and that’s where the public vote comes in.”