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New fund available to support adult education has been launched by the Skills Funding Agency, in partnership with NIACE

The Adult and Community Learning Fund will provide grants of between £10,000 and £75,000 for voluntary sector projects

Voluntary sector organisations are being invited to apply for a share of a £2.25m grant fund to support educational projects for adults in England.

The Adult and Community Learning Fund from the government’s Skills Funding Agency, which is being administered by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, will give grants ranging from £10,000 to £75,000 to support "informal adult and community learning".

A statement on the fund’s website says informal adult and community learning is an umbrella term describing a broad range of learning that brings together adults, often of different ages and backgrounds, to pursue an interest, address a need, acquire a new skill, become healthier or learn how to support their children.

"This kind of learning, usually unaccredited, is an important part of the wider learning continuum," it says.

The website says the fund aims to build the big society through learning, and to engage and motivate disadvantaged groups. It says it is particularly interested in bids from organisations that are collaborating on projects. Initiatives will need to start by 1 September 2011 and end by 31 March 2012.

Applications for grants must be submitted by noon on Friday, 10 June. The application form can be downloaded from the NIACE site.

Source: Third Sector magazine