UK SAR Volunteer Training Fund

Grants available

Grants are available from the UKSAR Volunteer Training Fund (UKSAR VTF)and funding will cover the period April 2024 to March 2026. Grants will offer support to UK Search and Rescue (SAR) organisations towards the training costs of their operational volunteersto support UK Search and Rescue (SAR) organisations with the training costs of their operational volunteers. Training must be considered to be a high priority to the organisation and must improve both the capability of the organisation and its volunteers, and reflect the proven operational need in the local area.

Applicants must set out clearly why this training is a priority for their volunteers and how this training will benefit your organisation and its UKSAR capabilities. We will request applicants to prioritise their identified training needs and will expect applications to focus on high quality operational search and rescue training. This may include:

• core skills training for new or existing volunteers, linked to proven operational need in the local area
• avoiding skills fade for existing volunteers, caused by delays or reduction of training opportunities during the pandemic
• revalidation of core training for existing volunteers
• training which incorporates appropriate wellbeing approaches

In addition, skills cascade training, ‘Train the Trainer’ opportunities and cross-team collaboration, which seek to future-proof a team’s training needs to a reasonable extent, will be viewed positively. However, we recognise that this is useful but not always possible in every situation.

Please note: This will be the final round for the UKSAR Volunteer Training Fund as the fund has now been disbursed over the last funding rounds since its launch in 2015. The programme will close after this grant round and there will be no further opportunities to apply for funding via this fund. Grants for this round may be applied over a two -year period, from 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2026. Limited funds are available and, unfortunately, we may not be able to award full grants to all organisations which apply, however, partial grants may be made.

All training must be completed between 01 April 2024 and 31 March 2026. Successful applicants will be required to report on their activities and the difference made as a result of the grant. Reports will be due 30 April 2026, but may be submitted earlier where the grant activities are completed sooner

What training costs can be funded?

• Operational training for SAR volunteers in the UK which directly correlates with specific operational needs in the local area
• Courses related to the training of operational SAR volunteers, which are central to your activities
• Hiring external trainers for course delivery
• Administration costs, if essential to training courses
• Volunteers’ travel costs and accommodation when this is integral to the training itself. You will need to provide a clear explanation and breakdown of costs. If accommodation costs are not integral to the training, you must fund these separately
• Costs of training equipment (e.g manikins or training defibrillators)
• Blue light training, if applicable
• Up to 50% off the costs of the training
• Training costs incurred between 01 April 2024 and 31 March 2026

A full and detailed breakdown of training costs must be provided in order of priority. In some instances, partial funding may be made.

In order to ensure that the greatest number of teams can be supported with the funds available this year, the Fund will provide up to 50% of training costs. We encourage all SAR charities to rank their training needs in order of high, medium and low priority and also to develop a variety of sustainable ways to fund their training.  We therefore require all applicants to commit 50% of the costs of training.

Due to the wide range of size of organisations that apply to the UKSAR Volunteer Training Fund, there is not currently an upper limit for grant requests but we do expect applicants to be reasonable. We expect requests for support to be a minimum of £1,000, depending on need, scale and impact. The decision making process will review value for money to ensure that funds are used effectively.

Important: Before you apply

Application process

All organisations must complete the online application form by the deadline listed below. The application asks for key information about your organisation and includes questions to help us understand what support you need and why, and what difference a grant would make to your volunteers and to your community. It is important that you clearly set out and rank your training priorities and state why this training is important to your volunteers.

We also ask how you will fund the required 50% of the costs and whether your organisation is developing a longer-term plan for your training needs. We will check the documents you provide, and review your Charity Commission records, website and any other publicly available information .

If previously funded  through this scheme, applicants must have completed prior reporting requirements (i.e., outlining what training was undertaken and the difference this made between April 2022 - March 2023). Note, reports for current activities taking place between April 2023 and March 2024 are not due until April 2024.

How to apply