GWR grant to support young people in Wiltshire and Swindon

We are delighted that projects supporting disadvantaged young people in Wiltshire and Swindon will benefit from a £20,000 Great Western Railway grant.

The donation will enable us to deliver support through a GWR Youth Fund, providing grants to grassroots charities and community groups for projects working with young people to improve their life chances, building aspiration, skills and employability.

As part of GWR’s franchise agreement with the Department for Transport, the train operator is committed to supporting community and not-for-profit organisations.

The funding will enable us to provide £18,000 directly in grants, either to voluntary groups and/or individual young people, through our established grant programmes. And the remaining £2,000 will support our work, including delivery of the grant programmes, advice and support to beneficiaries, and supporting the Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Work Network.

Commenting on the generous donation, Wiltshire Community Foundation Philanthropy Director, Joanne Brady said: “The pandemic has led to further reductions in youth work activities and connections with young people and there are growing concerns for young people’s mental health and longer-term outcomes.

“The GWR Youth Fund will provide much-needed support to local young people and to the essential voluntary organisations that are working so hard to improve their life chances.”

GWR Community Manager Emma Morris said: “We have a specific pot of money designed to support community and not-for-profit organisations. Research has shown that young people in Wiltshire and Swindon are more likely to be unemployed than nationally and this has been further exacerbated by the pandemic.

“We hope the GWR Youth Fund will give a boost to young people in the county and improve their prospects of entering into the world of work.”