Funding Support for Skills and Training

To continue to support skills, training and development, the BWF WIT (Wood Industry Training) Forum continues to work with relevant funding partners to provide access to funding support for eligible BWF members to train and upskill their workforce.

1.0 CITB Skills and Training Fund

The CITB Skills and Training Fund can be used to support the delivery of a number of activities, including:

A wide range of skills and training activity;
Innovation, management and leadership initiatives;
Business sustainability and improvement interventions.

This fund is split between:

Funding for Small and Micro Sized Businesses
Funding for Medium Sized Business

Eligible BWF members can apply to this fund once every 12 months.

1.1 Funding for Small and Micro Sized Businesses

BWF members are eligible to apply for small and micro sized business funding if they meet the following criteria:

You are a CITB-registered employer; AND
You have less than 100 directly employed staff on the payroll, AND
Any previous project paid for by the CITB Skills and Training Fund has been signed off as complete.

CITB-registered employers can apply for funding related to how many direct employees they have:

Employers with 1 to 49 directly employed staff can receive up to £5,000;
Employers with 50 to 74 directly employed staff can receive up to £7,500;
Employers with 75 to 99 directly employed staff can receive up to £10,000.

1.2 Funding for Medium Sized Businesses

BWF members are eligible to apply for medium sized business funding if they meet the following criteria:

You are a CITB-registered employer; AND
You have between 100 and 250 directly employed staff on the payroll; AND
Any previous project paid for by the CITB Skills and Training Fund has been signed off as complete.

CITB-registered employers can apply for funding related to how many direct employees they have:

Employers with between 100 and 149 directly employed staff can receive up to £15,000;
Employers with between 150 and 199 directly employed staff can receive up to £20,000;
Employers with between 200 and 250 directly employed staff can receive up to £25,000.

2.0 The WITForum GET Fund

The WITForum GET Fund has been secured to support eligible BWF training group members to undertake a wide range of sector related CITB grant eligible funded short duration training courses (e.g. safe use of woodworking machinery, portable power tools, manual handing, AutoCAD, etc.). The level of funding support will be dependent on the type of course required and the funding will be available on a first come first served basis.

Eligibility for this fund will be established based on the type of training required. The fund is available from 1^st August 2020 through until end of March 2021.

3.0 Grants for Short Duration Courses and Qualifications

If you are CITB registered, grant support is available for the achievement of the following:

Short duration courses (tiered based on course costs/duration)
Tier 1 – £30
Tier 2 – £70
Tier 3 – £120
Qualification achievement
Short period (e.g. NVQ/SVQ) achievement £600
Longer period (e.g. HNC/HND) attendance £1,125 / achievement £1,875

4.0 Grants for Apprenticeships

If you are CITB registered, grant support is also available for the achievement of an apprenticeship:

For a 2-year Apprenticeship:

1st year attendance grant – £2,500;
2nd year attendance grant – £2,500;
Achievement grant £3,500.