£126,770 awarded through the Bettys & Taylors Group Community Fund

We are delighted to share that the latest round of the Bettys & Taylors Group Community Fund has distributed £126,770 to 15 community organisations across the region.

These grants recognise the vital role local charities play in helping people build skills, confidence and pathways into employment, and strengthen the communities they call home. The fund focuses on projects that support employability, life skills and personal development, helping people have the tools they need to move forward in life.

Building skills, confidence and employability

A wide range of projects across Harrogate, Northallerton, Ilkley, York and surrounding communities received support, with grants ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. These include £10,000 for Claro Enterprises to expand its education and training offer through additional daytime courses, evening and weekend woodworking sessions, and outreach in rural areas such as Boroughbridge and Masham. Colburn Hub and Café CIC received £9,120 to deliver accredited Level 2 Food Hygiene training and practical cooking sessions, helping people gain the qualifications needed for entry-level catering roles. Kyra Women’s Project in York was awarded £8,606 to run four blocks of its Diverse Aware programme, supporting 60 women to build confidence, resilience and essential life skills.

A further £5,000 is supporting bespoke mental health and peer support programmes in prisons across the UK. Unlock My Life is a project run by the mental health charity My Life, including a new women-focused programme at HMP Askham Grange in York. Alongside these larger grants, other organisations are offering one-to-one support, digital skills, creative activities and confidence-building workshops — all vital stepping stones toward independence, wellbeing and employability.

Here are the other organisations who benefited from Bettys & Taylors Group Community Fund:

• Chocolate & Co Supporting people into work through employer engagement, interview coaching, first ‑shift support and practical essentials such as clothing and travel.
• Hambleton Community Action Delivering free lifes‑ kills workshops including cookery, sewing, Makaton, bus confidence trips and informal IT help.
• Harehills English Language Project Funding crèche staffing so parents can attend English classes, plus IT support for online learning.
• Inspire Youth Yorkshire Running a 10-week cooking and lifes‑ kills course and two series of employability workshops.
• Lifeline Harrogate Recruiting a Housing and Support Officer to deliver life skills training, employability support, and weekly guidance.
• Mind in Harrogate District Delivering a structured 36-week programme of life skills and employability courses.
• Orb Community Enterprise Covering specialist delivery costs and providing 1:1 support, confidence building‑ activities and CV writing help.
• Snappy Offering skills development and employability support for young people (aged 19–25) with physical disabilities, including work placements.
• Three13 Training and Enterprise Ltd Providing long-term unemployed people with skills and a Level 1 qualification in horticulture.
• The Learning Legends Club Delivering essential skills workshops for parents and children, including first aid, safeguarding, digital skills and financial literacy.
• The Neighbourhood Project CIC Running digital skills sessions, 1:1 coaching, and training residents to run their own informal classes, alongside providing refurbished tablets.

Get involved – apply for the next round

Applications for the next round of the Bettys & Taylors Group Community Fund will open in Summer 2026. Apply at Two Ridings Community Foundation.