Leatherworking Apprenticeships
Leatherworking Apprenticeships
The Leathersellers’ Foundation offers apprenticeship funding of £5,000 – £10,000 per annum for up to three years to support the training and education of aspiring leather craftspeople. We provide these opportunities to sustain vital skills in traditional and contemporary crafts and contribute to excellence in the field of leatherworking in the UK.
Who can apply?
Applications for a grant to support a Leatherworking Apprenticeship should come from the organisation/master who will be training the apprentice. This could be an application to create a new apprenticeship that has not existed before, or for an existing apprentice programme.
To be eligible you must meet these criteria:
• the organisation is a UK-based sole-trader or micro-business (definition as provided by Companies House: turning over less than £632,000, has £316,000 or less on its balance sheet, and has less than 10 employees)
• there is genuine financial need from the employer who cannot access these funds from alternative schemes including those provided by the government
• the apprenticeship will be of benefit to both the apprentice and the organisation
• the apprentice will be aged 18 or over (no upper age limit) and be living and working
permanently in the UK
• the apprentice will be paid at at least minimum wage (dependent on age) though we would hope some companies were able to provide the Living Wage to their apprentices, or at least reach that point in a staged way over the course of the apprenticeship (£9.50 per hour)
What do we fund?
We offer grants of between £5,000 – £10,000 per annum, for a maximum of a three-year apprenticeship. This should contribute towards the business’ costs of training the apprentice (where possible to gain recognised qualifications) or the apprentice’s salary.
We want to support excellence in British leatherworking, so we are looking for apprentices to be people planning to utilise their skills and stay in the UK to contribute to the leather industry.
How to apply
All applications must be submitted via our online form (this will be made available when the programme is open).
To assist you in preparing your responses you will also be able to download a word version (but only applications submitted online will be considered).
Timeline
Applications must be submitted by noon on Tuesday 24th September 2024.
These will then be assessed and considered by the Grants team and the Leather Trade Committee, with the Trustees making a final decision in early November.
The latest you can expect to hear from us with a final decision is 9th November 2024.
For successful applicants, funds would be paid upon confirmation of an apprentice having been recruited.
Terms of the Grant
Please note that should you be successful in receiving this funding, you will be required to report annually to the Leathersellers against the goals stated in your application. Multi-year funding is paid annually dependent on receipt of a satisfactory report. The Trustees of the Foundation have the discretion to discontinue the award if circumstances require.
Unsure of your eligibility or have any other questions? Please contact Natalia and the Grants team at charityapp@leathersellers.co.uk