The SLCC Educational Trust was established to help improve access to education for those working within the local council sector and since it opened its first applications has agreed grants worth almost £7,500. Our grants have included:
- £120 to a Clerk in Wales to complete FILCA
- £138 to a Clerk in Suffolk to attend a training course on Financial Regulations
- £407 to part fund a Clerk from Northamptonshire attending the SLCC National Conference
- £90 to a Clerk in Wales to attend webinars on landlord responsibilities, social media and climate action
- Over £4,000 to support seven Clerks to complete CiLCA.
We consider grant applications every two months (with deadlines at the end of each even month) – our next round closes on 30th December.
Under this scheme, we are working to deliver our objective that more local council officers will be equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to serve their councils and their local communities for the public benefit.
The grant scheme is open to officers of local councils, principal authorities, and those working in other organisations that regularly interact with local councils – our objective is to enhance education within the sector, with a special focus on seeing more clerks complete CiLCA.
Our grants will fund course fees, costs of attendance at events (such as travel, childcare and caring costs) and books or equipment to facilitate study (except the CAB as we believe every council should have this).
We will consider all applications but prioritise those who have not received a grant before and those from organisations with a turnover below £25,000. We assess applications to see how the training will benefit the community so we look for a link between the training the applicant wants to undertake and how that supports the community they serve. We also look to understand how a lack of funding is a barrier to learning – for example, in larger councils with healthy budgets we would need to be convinced as to why the council is not funding the training itself. If you would like to find out more, or to apply for a grant, visit: www.slcceducationaltrust.org.uk. If you have any queries about the scheme, please email trust@slcceducationaltrust.org.uk