Two prominent Telford companies, DENSO Manufacturing UK Limited and JCE & Sons, have pooled resources to offer a £20,000 grant fund for young people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.  Grants of up to £5,000 are available for organisations who empower and inspire young people aged 16 – 25 who are care leavers, home educated, or living in high-deprivation areas.  The Fund aims to strengthen young people’s engagement, confidence, and inspire pathways into meaningful education, employment, or training, through participative, youth-led, creative, skills and mentoring activities.

In Telford & Wrekin, over a quarter of residents live in the 20% most deprived areas, while in Shropshire, pockets of high deprivation affect school-aged children in areas such as Harlescott, Ludlow and Oswestry. Care leavers face particular challenges, with many studying or living outside the area and needing local support, and numbers of home-educated children have surged in Shropshire from 149 in 2019 to 531 in 2024. These statistics highlight the need for flexible, locally delivered, youth-led projects that can inspire, engage, and provide pathways into education, employment, or training for those most at risk of being left behind.

Grants from the DENSO JCE Fund will support young people from deprived areas, in care or home-educated, who often face higher barriers to opportunity, social isolation, and exclusion.

Successful applications may include:

• co-design with young people,
• capacity building of grassroots organisations
• removing access barriers (transport, digital inclusion, bursaries)

To maximise reach, the scheme will prioritise place-based targeting, i.e. wards with the lowest Index of Multiple Deprivation, as well as person-based eligibility.

Grant Details:

Launch Date:  Thursday, 6th November 2025.

Window for applications closes on the 18th December 2025.

Organisations will be notified in early February 2026.

Total Available Fund: £20,000.

Grant Amount Per Organisation: Up to £5,000.

Funding Period: Projects must be completed within 12 months of receiving the grant.

Geographic Area: Projects must be delivered in Shropshire and/or Telford & Wrekin.

Match Funding: Not mandatory but leveraged contributions (cash or in-kind) are welcomed in scoring.

Eligibility Criteria

Full eligibility criteria are described on the application form.

Applicants must satisfy all of the following:

• Be a legally constituted, not-for-profit organisation (charity, CIO, community interest company, voluntary association, social enterprise) or a lead organisation in a partnership.
• Be based in, or able to deliver in, Shropshire and/or Telford & Wrekin.
• Demonstrate capacity and governance to manage a grant of up to £5,000 (financial systems, safeguarding, reporting).

Proposals must target young people aged 16 to 25 who are one or more of:

• Care leavers or care-experienced
• Home educated (elective home education)
• Living in wards / LSOAs of high deprivation (e.g. in the bottom deciles of IMD)

The project must run within 12 months and complete all activity by the end date.

The project must benefit young people living in Shropshire, including Telford & Wrekin.

Ineligible Projects / Expenditures

• Projects outside the geographic area
• Activities purely recreational or festival-type without developmental or pathway linkage
• Retrospective funding (i.e. work already completed)
• Capital works or building refurbishment exceeding 10% of budget
• Activities that duplicate statutory obligation (unless with strong innovation)
• Expenditures without proper receipts or documentation (unverified costs)

Reporting and Ongoing Support

Successful applicants must agree to submit a mid-term report (after 6 months) and a final report, including core outcome data.