YORKSHIRE Building Society Charitable Foundation has launched a new £1 million grant programme aimed at supporting employability in Bradford.

Charities that support employability are being asked to submit an application for funding by September 29, 2024.

The building society, which has its headquarters on Rooley Lane, has a long-standing connection to Bradford.

One of its founding organisations, the Bradford Self Help Permanent Building Society, was established in the St George’s Hall Coffee Tavern in 1855.

Bradford has one of the UK's largest working-age populations, but the city's unemployment rates are higher than the regional and national average and its working-age population has lower-than-average qualification levels.

The Building Bradford Skills Fund, funded by a donation from the mutual, aims to tackle these issues.

The fund will support charities operating in the city's most deprived wards, including but not limited to Bowling & Barkerend, Royds, Tong, and Wibsey.

The fund will provide a small number of grants, ideally between £100,000 and up to £500,000, over three years.

Charities are invited to express interest via the foundation's website in August, before submitting an application for funding by 29 September.

Full details about eligibility criteria, and about how to submit an expression of interest, are available at www.ybs.co.uk/your-society/charitable-foundation