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