Apply for a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) grant

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is an initiative designed to accelerate the government's Levelling Up agenda.

From 2022 to 2025, it's providing funding for local investments to create positive change in communities across the country.

The UKSPF presents a significant opportunity to level up disadvantaged regions, empowering them with greater access to funding and resources. With the UKSPF's support, local initiatives can flourish, forging stronger and more resilient communities, by boosting and cultivating local pride and enhancing life opportunities for all.

Medway UKSPF: our investment plan priorities

We submitted a UKSPF investment plan in 2022 that was approved by the government. At the heart of our investment plan is our commitment to achieving the best for Medway and delivering on the government’s Levelling Up agenda. With our allocation of £1.8 million, we've outlined our spending priorities, crafting a roadmap for progress that aligns with aspirations of our vibrant communities and stakeholders.

Through the UKSPF, we'll channel our resources into 3 key investment priorities:

• Communities and Place
• Supporting Local Business
• People and Skills.

Year 1 (2022 to 2023) and Year 2 (2023 to 2024)

We invested £225,000 into 17 projects during Year 1 of the programme. These delivered against the priorities of providing non-financial support to local businesses, and a range of projects that promoted and encouraged people to visit and explore the Medway towns.

Over £260,000 was invested into 27 projects during Year 2 of the programme. These projects were hugely successful in providing support to local community organisations and fostering stronger and more resilient communities by boosting local pride and enhancing life opportunities for all.

Year 3 (2024 to 2025)

Our investment plan sets out the priorities for Year 3 of the UKSPF programme. Our Year 3 priorities are:

• improving our communities and place
• supporting local businesses
• enhancing our people and skills offer across Medway.

We believe investing in these areas will help us achieve our goal of building pride in place and increasing life chances in Medway. We're excited to empower local leaders and communities, whilst working together to support Medway’s wider regeneration ambition ‘Medway 2040’, the government’s wider Levelling Up agenda, and delivering pride in place through boosting productivity, spreading opportunities, and restoring a sense of community and local pride.

All UKSPF Year 3 funding must be spent by March 2025.

Medway 2040 priorities

• Destination and Placemaking: putting Medway on the map as a smart and sustainable waterfront
• Business Accommodation and Digital Connectivity: provide the right infrastructure for business success
• Town Centres: renew, diversify, and activate our town centres
• Inward Investment: increase high-value business and expand high quality employment
• Sector Growth: enhance a strong, mixed economy
• Improving Employability: match business demand and skills supply
• Cross cutting themes include innovation, climate change and net zero.

Medway’s UKSPF priority themes

Our Year 3 investment plan identifies the following priorities and themes for UKSPF applications.

All applications must include at least one of the following numbered interventions under one of the priorities set out below to be eligible for funding.

Priority 1: Communities and Place

• Intervention 1: Enhancing support for local community and neighbourhood infrastructure projects
• Intervention 2: Supporting the development of campaigns to encourage visits and exploration of the local area
• Intervention 3: Providing supporting infrastructure to, or helping to build capacity of, local groups
• Intervention 7: Development of a relevant feasibility study that supports pride in place in Medway.

Priority 2: Supporting Local Business

• Intervention 4: Helping to strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Intervention 5: Offering business support, training, incubation, or accelerator space to local businesses
• Intervention 6: Supporting the decarbonisation agenda and natural environment.

Priority 3: People and Skills

• Intervention 8: Supporting people to engage in life skills
• Intervention 9: Supporting people to engage in education
• Intervention 10: Supporting people to engage in job searching
• Intervention 11: Supporting people to gain employment.

Our approach to Year 3 UKSPF

We have 3 initiatives.

The Pride in Place Fund

The Pride in Place Fund is open to applicants looking to promote a rich cultural experience for residents and visitors alike, to support the social enterprise sector, and to help businesses deliver transformation in alignment with the goals and objectives of ‘Medway 2040’.

We welcome bids from organisations looking to fund a range of projects that align with our identified UKSPF priorities 1 and 2 (above) and themes, including:

• supporting local community infrastructure projects
• supporting and developing campaigns to attract visitors and to help people explore Medway
• building the capacity and capabilities of local community groups
• supporting business transformation, for example, decarbonisation.

Find out more and apply for the Pride in Place Fund.

The Feasibility Fund

The Feasibility Fund will provide funding for feasibility studies to support initial concept and business plan development: seed funding to help get project ideas off the ground.

This fund could help to unlock projects capable of securing further public and private investment in the longer-term. We see this fund as an important way of supporting the development of impactful projects and concepts that could catalyse longer-term change.

The Feasibility Fund is intended to support projects that could deliver outcomes across investment priorities 1 and 2 (above).

Find out more and apply for the Feasibility Fund.

The People and Skills Fund

The People and Skills Fund is open to applicants who are seeking to address people and skills challenges in Medway. The fund is intended to support projects that can deliver outcomes that address priority 3 (above).

Find out more and apply for the People and Skills Fund.

Additional information

Email medwayUKSPF@medway.gov.uk if you have any queries surrounding what fund is most suitable for your project.