The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the government’s levelling up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The fund aims to improve pride in the area and increase life chances across the country, investing in:
- Communities and place
- Supporting local business
- People and skills
You can find out more in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund prospectus on the government website.
Tamworth has been awarded £2,328.244 to spend on local programmes and projects. For details about our bid, see our investment plan.
In the first financial year, projects delivered renovations to the castle gatehouse, a community archaeological dig, literacy projects and a Love Tamworth VR trail which is still available to download. We also commissioned a range of feasibility studies in wellbeing, tourism, place, and business so we can target specific needs in Tamworth in the future.
How to apply
Years two and three funding for most of the fund has been allocated.
There will be some further grant schemes which will be publicised and promoted at different times over the year by the successful projects for town centre businesses, voluntary sector and to help sports capacity.
You can now apply for the ‘people and skills’ funding, due to start from 1 April 2024. A total of £497,869 is available for revenue projects which can be used to deliver operational projects. It is not for the purchase or construction of equipment or buildings.
Funding is available for:
- E33 Employment support for economically inactive people
- E34 Course including basic, life & career skills
- E36 Increase levels of digital inclusion, essential digital skills
- E38 Local areas to fund local skills needs
The Tamworth UKSPF Partnership Board wish to see a collaborative approach with the award to one lead organisation. The lead organisation must identify what provision of the contract it can deliver and for those areas they cannot, provide evidence that there is a consortium of partners that can support and deliver all areas of work.
By 2025, we aim to see people supported through our interventions to gain and sustain employment and an increase in their skills levels.
This project will be sourced via our procurement process, for which you will need to register at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/tamworthbc
For more information you can email us at spf@tamworth.gov.uk.
Awarded Projects
Tamworth Borough Council capital delivery projects
Town Centre Landscaping - Year 2 £75,018 and year 3 £296,116.
This project links with the town centre Future High Street scheme and will help provide additional finishing provision to enhance the town.
For more information contact: alice-poulton@tamworth.gov.uk
Castle Gateway - Year 2 £10,000 and year 3 £90,000
Works to the Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) next to the castle bridge. The project will install a safe access point for maintenance teams for removing litter and includes new uplighting and paving to enhance the look and safety of the area. New interpretation panels and educational material will also be produced to give context.
For more information contact alice-poulton@tamworth.gov.uk
Communities and Place
Tamworth Castle - Dropping the Drawbridge - £70,000 year 2
The project will deliver an ambitious and engaging programme of large-scale participative events to raise the profile of the cultural, historical and heritage institutions in Tamworth. It will increase collaboration between partner organisations and provide opportunities for service development.
Activities will be centred around four key themes
- Tamworth's Saxon heritage, which has unique historic significance with connections to Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercians and the Staffordshire Hoard.
- A community archaeology dig. The Castle Grounds, conservation area, and current development of the high street provide multiple opportunities to engage all sections of the community with the historic environment.
- Heritage crafts and skills development delivered through work with local artists and creative practitioners, as well as skilled craftspeople and conservators.
- Literary and artistic interpretation of the heritage assets, drawing on the experiences of our first Storytelling Festival in March 2023 and working with community groups, the library, authors, poets, artists and members of the public to take inspiration from our historic and cultural assets.
For more information contact heritage@tamworth.gov.uk
New Urban Era (NUE) - Creative Tamworth - Year 2 £2607 and Year 3 £10,000
A community arts organisation based in Tamworth will deliver an arts project to transform council-owned bus shelters into public artworks.
For more information contact newurbanerauk@gmail.com
Tamworth Castle - Clay and Cross Stich project - Year 1 £44500 and Year 3 £50,000
This project will create a project role to devise and deliver an activity and engagement plan to increase the number of activities and opportunities for individuals, groups, and volunteers.
Tamworth is identified as a Priority Place (Arts Council England) with low cultural engagement but has strong historic links with the clay industry and traditional crafts such as textiles (Castle Mill) and blacksmithing. Heritage crafts have contemporary relevance through the connection with skills development, conservation, sustainability, and ethical use of natural resources and provide an opportunity for people to establish themselves as artists, demonstrators and facilitators. Projects like this also enable local people to take part in more activities which link to the town's social and cultural heritage (e.g pottery, textiles, blacksmithing, woodwork).
For more information contact Lara-rowe@tamworth.gov.uk
Tamworth Borough Council Communications – Tourism promotion - Year 1 £33,375 Year 2 £37,500
A promotional video to be produced to encourage tourism to Tamworth, to be used across all mediums including TV and to promote Tamworth and the castle as a destination nationally and regionally, with the aim of improving the local economy and visits to the town centre.
For further information contact communications@tamworth.gov.uk
Heart of Tamworth (HOT) – A HOT Shop - Year 2 £40,000 and Year 3 £50,000
A full-time project manager post will be advertised to support the provision of a new facility and development of the current existing service.
HOT already operates a community pantry from a shed run by 20 volunteers. It is currently cold and undignified. People use the facility out of desperation and so HOT is building a new shop which is more welcoming to volunteers and visitors. It has been designed to encourage socialising and engagement and provide a wider range of affordable food. A second facility will also be built to provide clothes, children’s books (which will help address high levels of poor literacy), educational toys and household items.
For further information please contact enquiries@heartoftamworth.org
Community Together CIC - Year 2 £22,500 and Year 3 £37,500
This project will train volunteers to become Community Connectors allowing them to organise and attend community engagement events and assist in enabling and expanding the current successful form filling service to attend house appointments.
These events and appointments will be supporting the most vulnerable people in Tamworth.
For further information contact www.communitytogethercic.org.uk or email ctcicinfo@gmail.com
Support Staffordshire - Year 2: £52,472 and Year 3 £99,225
This project will support new and existing local voluntary and community groups to thrive, to be resilient, empowered and supported, through development of a capacity building programme for new and existing groups and organisations.
This support will be achieved by delivering:
- Training and workshops including unconscious bias to conscious inclusion, involving volunteers - recruit, retain, reward, introduction to income generation and funding, effective bid writing, writing business plans, core policies and procedures for charities, marketing masterclass, trustees roles and responsibilities, adult safeguarding awareness and emergency first aid.
- Enhanced development support - encourage new and emerging groups into Support Staffordshire membership where they can benefit from existing information, advice, and guidance via tried and tested methods. Support members to undertake a group diagnostic session. Dedicated funding searches and funding fair held locally for the Tamworth community.
- Deliver a community grants scheme.
For more information contact info@supportstaffordshire.org.uk
Homestart - Year 2 £16,526 and Year 3 £24,800
Homestart provides emotional and practical support to families with at least one child under the age of five (although they work with the whole family including older siblings) in the family home during times of stress or crisis to prevent family breakdown.
Homestart will continue to employ a volunteer manager, who is experienced and qualified as a trainer who will build and recruit new volunteers who are parents themselves, this is an essential part of the Home-Start principle and success because it is through lived experience which is now recognised as best practice in supporting people.
For more information call 01827 62400.
Dementia Caring - Year 3 £16,381
The overall aim of the project is to expand and improve support to those with living with dementia in Tamworth. This will be achieved through the creation of an Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) post, working 15 hours a week on a 12-month fixed term contract. The main roles and responsibilities of this new post will be to:
- Establish a Time Out Club for people living with dementia in Tamworth.
- Provide relevant support, advice, guidance, and information to unpaid family caregivers
- Adapt, tailor, and facilitate aspects of the delivery of the Time Out Club’s Day care model for delivery within a home setting.
For more information email contact@dementiacaring.org.uk
Citizens Advice Mid Mercia - Year 2 £33,581 and Year 3 £47,274
The project will recruit local residents as volunteer generalist advisers to increase the capacity of the existing services to ensure people in Tamworth can access the help and support they need to avoid financial crisis and maintain good health and wellbeing.
They will employ a full time volunteer co-ordinator, responsible for the ongoing recruitment, training, and supervision of up to 10 volunteers from the local community, all giving at least six hours per week and providing high-quality, practical advice and support.
For further information contact www.citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk
Supporting Local Business
Tamworth Borough Council, Digital Islands - Year 2 £36,515 and Year 3 £40,000
This project was awarded in year one of the fund for three years. The project delivers networking, training and grant support for businesses based in Tamworth town centre.
For more information please email business@tamworth.gov.uk
Tamworth Borough Council, market support - Year 2 £17,800 and Year 3 £20,000
This project is to commission a feasibility report in to provide insight and recommendations on how best to develop the market post Future High Street.
For more information please email business@tamworth.gov.uk
Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ltd - Year 2 £26,064.40 and Year 3 £39,096.60
This project aims to strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems by supporting businesses at an early stage of development to start, sustain, grow, and innovate by delivering their award-winning enterprise programme. The programme will deliver Ignite online learning in the form of start-up videos 24/7 for a period of 12 months, monthly face-to-face business support workshops with a business advisor and networking peer sessions. Applicants will also have the chance for one-to-one support.
For more information contact tom.nadin@staffordshirechambers.co.uk
Staffordshire County Council, Get Started and Grow - Year 2 £10,500 Year 3 £14,500
This project expands and gives additionality to an existing programme which is currently oversubscribed. This scheme offers the opportunity for business support on producing websites, branding, or social media packages. Actual accountancy support to test the viability of a business idea, or recruitment support.
More information is available on the Support and Grow webpage.