Glenkens Education and Training Fund: beyond courses and qualifications
The Glenkens and District Education and Training Fund shows what becomes possible when funding is designed around local realities.
“It's really working and obviously there is a need for this kind of funding.”
In the Glenkens, education and training funding is not simply about courses or qualifications. It is about time, stability and the ability to keep going when circumstances are challenging. It enables residents to start or continue their education, to upskill or retrain. This helps to build community skills and capacity for the future. The Glenkens and District Education and Training Fund shows what becomes possible when funding is designed around these kinds of realities.
Reaching people differently
Established in 2022, the Fund was created to reach individuals living in the area. Delivered in partnership by Glenkens and District Trust (GDT) and Foundation Scotland, it supports people directly to gain the skills they need to enter or re-enter employment or remain in work. From the outset, the emphasis has been on simplicity, dignity and responsiveness. Rolling assessments, timely decisions and support for the real costs of learning – from travel and childcare to accommodation and equipment – mean funding is shaped around people’s lives, not just their course fees. This has helped more people stay engaged with education and training over time.
Creating breathing space
Recipients consistently described the Fund as removing pressure at critical moments in their lives. In a rural area where travel distances can be long and costs are high, even modest support can determine whether someone continues or steps away from learning: “Because we’re in the middle of nowhere, the petrol cost is huge. University is about 25 miles away, so it’s a 50-mile round trip.”
For others, the funding created space to focus on learning rather than survival: “Knowing that we were getting that money did help ease a bit of that financial stress.”
In this way, education and training funding reduces financial stress and opens up opportunities – impacts that can be just as important as learning itself.
Supporting change over time
The Fund supports people through key life transitions, such as young adults navigating early careers, parents returning to education and older residents retraining later in life: “I’ll be 51 when I graduate… and I want to have a bit of a career in the NHS.”
In an area with a changing population profile, evolving employment opportunities, and structural factors influencing access to work, the ability to retrain or diversify skills is essential. By supporting progression over time rather than one-off interventions, the Fund helps people build pathways that strengthen long-term employability and resilience while also meeting community need: “Someone’s done one course and come back for their next. And now they’re working in the area using that qualification.” (Glenkens Fund Trustee)
Strengthening community resilience
While grants are awarded to individuals, the benefits ripple outward. People who gain skills locally or return to the area with new qualifications are more likely to stay, spend locally and contribute to community life: "Because we are living here, we’re spending here… the money goes back into the economy.”
By supporting skills in demand locally, the Fund helps retain knowledge and experience that might otherwise be lost, strengthening community resilience in the process.
Trust-based approach
A defining feature of the Fund is how it is delivered. Applications are simple, decision-making is transparent, and the process is intentionally non-stigmatising. Trust-based, low-bureaucracy processes have helped funding reach people who might otherwise opt out: “It was so quick and easy to apply – I didn’t think it would be as easy as this.
GDT trustees value the partnership with Foundation Scotland, which brings capacity, impartiality and local understanding to a volunteer-led organisation: “It’s direct money – short of actually putting money into people’s bank accounts.” (GDT trustee)
Lessons from the Glenkens
The Glenkens case study shows that when education and training funding is flexible, locally grounded and built on trust, its impact extends far beyond individual awards. Confidence grows, skills are retained locally, and communities are better equipped to navigate long-term economic and demographic change. In a place facing population decline, workforce challenges and rising living costs, the Glenkens and District Education and Training Fund demonstrates how community benefit funding can support resilience from the ground up – one person, one opportunity, one turning point at a time.
You can read the full case study here.
You can read all of the resources here.