Free Money for Training? Yes Please!
Who wouldn’t want some free money for training? It might sound like a silly question but you might be surprised at the number of businesses that simply walk by an offer thinking it might be too good to be true, or it was not worth the time to put in to get the funding.
For Annabelle Webster, from South East Timber and Damp Ltd however, the recent changes to CITB and its new Skills and Training fund was too good an opportunity to miss and it is an opportunity she wants to make sure YOU are aware of too!
It Really is so Easy to get Funding
Annabelle went on to say: “As a micro business we appreciate any funding or grants to help with the business running costs. The PCA made me aware of funding available from the CITB for ‘Skills & Training’. My immediate thought was that it would be a percentage of the total costs and that it would be a lengthy process to achieve payment. Well, I was wrong!”
The Process is Quick and Simple – Get Involved!
At the PCA, we do not pretend that all future applications for this ‘Skills and Training fund’ will necessarily be straightforward for everyone. However, from the limited number of people we have now spoken to regarding this new fund, the handcuffs and difficulties of the past of successfully achieving this type of funding seem to have almost washed away.
In fact, the words used to describe it to ourselves from others (and from the CITB itself) is that it is a much quicker and simpler process than it ever has been in the past. The ‘cherry on top’, so to speak, is that from the experience of others the amount of funding was 100% of the training fee and in the cases that we have heard about, within a very short period (3-5 weeks) upfront payments for the training fund claims were in people’s bank accounts! It almost ‘screams’ the old proverb “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”
Training Fund: A Win-Win All Round!
Annabelle went on to say: “We currently have 2 team members on the Timber & Damp Apprenticeship Programme. The total cost is £6,500 per candidate with the CITB providing a grant of £5,250. The remaining £1,250 is covered by the contractor to the PCA. With this new training grant, we have now claimed for the remaining £1,250 per candidate making the apprenticeship training COMPLETELY FREE of COSTS to us apart from travel, accommodation and food.”
“It’s a WIN WIN! Go for it – a few hours work for up to £10,000.”
Is this training fund a ‘No Brainer’?
At the PCA, we do not necessarily want to push upon you applications for funding that frankly puts a chain around the neck and becomes ‘death by admin’! However, we do recognise the potential of a ‘good thing’ when it does eventually come along.
CITB appear to have listened to not only our members’ frustrations, but the frustrations of others too. They seem to have finally come up with a training initiative that, from early indications, does not feel like you are ‘pulling teeth’ when completing the application, or having to wait ‘forever and a day’ to receive the funding so you can invest in your staff!
Our opinion is EMBRACE THIS and do what our very own Annabelle has done – take advantage of the ‘win-win‘ to invest in your team at very little cost (if any)!
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