Prime Cymru and Active Inclusion Fund

The Active Inclusion Fund, which is managed by WCVA and supported by the European Social Fund through Welsh Government, is in place to provide funding to organisations that can support people to move closer to the employment market, with the overarching aim of reducing economic inactivity in Wales. There are currently over 134 active projects across Wales with over 5986 individuals having already been supported. Of those, 649 have entered employment. Thanks to the hard work and determination of these projects and a helping monetary hand from the Active Inclusion Fund, these individuals are on the path to securing a better, more secure future for themselves and their families.

However, it is fair to say that European Funding is not always straightforward and at times can be challenging to manage (especially for smaller, less resourced grassroot organisations). Yet these organisations are vital in supporting the often harder to reach individuals with specialist needs. To relieve some of the pressure that comes with managing these projects and allow smaller organisations to access the funding, WCVA has been appointed an intermediate body by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO). Meaning organisations can apply for European funding through Active Inclusion rather than directly from WEFO.

Watch Prime Cymru’s experience of the Active Inclusion Fund and the support they have received from the team in running the project. The organisation supports people over 50 back into the employment market, helping to empower them and challenge the stigma that they are ‘too old’ to change careers.

As Hayley mentioned in the video, Prime Cymru delivers its project across the whole of Wales. This is thanks to a few changes made to the fund last year which means organisations can now deliver simultaneous projects in both East Wales and West Wales and the Valleys, which can be seamlessly managed.

But East Wales based projects require more match funding?

False. Whilst the overall intervention rate for ESF operations in the East Wales Programme area is 50%, thanks to targeted match funding from Welsh Government, WCVA is able to offer a more favourable rate to third sector applicants to the Active Inclusion Funds.

Despite the sometimes challenging requirements of European Funding, WCVA encourages organisations to make the most of the significant pot of money in the East Wales area whilst it is still available to us. As such, we have made these vital changes to the Active Inclusion Fund to ensure your European funding journey is as smooth as it can be.

If you are interested in running an Active Inclusion Fund project or would like more information, get in touch with a member of the team today.