Ufi launches new grant fund to help level up learning for those most impacted by the #DigitalDivide

Ufi VocTech Trust, the UK's leading charity for championing the power of technology to improve skills for work, today announces a new grant fund.

Opening on 29 June, the VocTech Challenge Grant Fund is focused on supporting the development and deployment of digital solutions that help adults impacted by the digital divide and furthest away from learning so they can gain the confidence to get the skills they need for work.

The fund has been developed in response to Ufi’s VocTech Challenge Green Paper which found how lack of confidence was a major barrier to vocational learning for those most at risk from economic and digital exclusion.

There are a number of current and emerging technologies that could be developed or deployed to improve accessibility, create a supportive learning environment, and offer increased personalisation and motivation to start or keep on learning. As part of its wider aim to improve the skills of the UK workforce, Ufi is offering grants for projects which use digital technology to change how vocational learning is developed and delivered, and to ‘scale up’ this impact.

Rebecca Garrod-Waters, Ufi CEO, commented:

“The VocTech Challenge Grant Fund comes at a crucial time for UK skills development and aims to identify solutions for those learners who, without positive intervention, will struggle to get the skills they need to work or progress in employment.”

For more information about the VocTech Challenge Grant Fund visit our website: ufi.co.uk/grant-funding/voctech-challenge

Notes to Editors

For more information about Ufi, the projects we have supported and to arrange interviews please contact media@ufi.co.uk

• Ufi VocTech Trust supports the delivery of adult vocational skills through digital technology and our aim is to use our funding to catalyse change across the UK so that significant scale can be achieved in digital vocational learning for adults.
• We believe that the UK needs to accelerate the number of people accessing learning and gaining vocational skills to enable UK industry to compete in the global economy. As a funding organisation we believe that can be achieved using digital technologies.
• Our focus is on the utilisation of technology to help adults gain the skills needed for work. This includes supporting learners as they move through their careers, providing opportunities for lifelong learning, and skills development in ways that fit around work and life commitments.
• Digital technology can change the way that we access learning so that more people are able to develop their skills. We see digital technology offering increased flexibility, new approaches to learning, new ways of accrediting learning, new distribution models and new relationships with learning providers.
• A strong vocational technology community is fundamental to the growth and development of adult skills. We build links within the community, strengthening opportunities for investment and showcasing the art of the practically possible.
• Ufi VocTech Trust is committed to promoting and funding digital technologies to achieve a significant increase in the scale of adult learners gaining vocational skills.