• Swindon & Wiltshire Social
• Tuesday March 3 2026

Applications open for donations for charities helping young people into work

A programme that aims to award £300,000 to registered charities that support employability among young people is open for applications.

The Persimmon Charitable Foundation is running its open application programme for a second year.

The first of two funding rounds opened on Monday – with three £50,000 donations available for UK-based projects focused on children and young people aged 14-25, particularly those living in areas of economic and social deprivation.

The open application programme launched in 2025 to give more charities the opportunity to access Foundation funding.

Hundreds of charities applied and four £50,000 donations were awarded to registered charities working with young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), or identified at risk of becoming NEET.

With the Foundation’s support, recent successful applicant Bristol City Robins Charitable Foundation is piloting two programmes providing tailored mentoring, life skills development and wellbeing support: one aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds and another for 18 to 25-year-olds.

Anthony Vigor, chair of the foundation, said: “We were amazed by the response to our open application programme, with 1,210 applications for funding received last year. We want to support more charities working to change outcomes for young people and support them in their education, or into training or work, which is why we’ve increased our funding pot to £300,000 this year.”

The deadline for applications is 11.59pm on Sunday, March 15. Successful applicants will be informed in May.

Registered charities – including those that were unsuccessful previously – can apply via the Foundation section of the Persimmon Corporate website at https://www.persimmonhomes.com/corporate/foundation