Community Internship Programme 2015 applications open

Applications are open for community groups to gain a skilled professional free of charge to work in their organisation. The Community Internship Programme funds the employment costs for community groups to have specialists help them on a specific project for one year part-time, or up to six months full-time.

Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew said "Often, community groups don't have the resources to have someone on staff that can develop a marketing plan, for example, or who has the skills to enhance their technology systems so they run more efficiently. This programme allows people to take time out from their regular work without being out of pocket, and makes a huge difference to community organisations who desperately need specialist help with certain projects."

To apply, community groups need to identify an area for development, locate an appropriately skilled professional to achieve the outcomes, and gain approval from the person's employer to be involved in this scheme.

Applications open on 22 July and close on 16 September. Successful internships can begin early in 2016.

More information is available on the Community Matters website or by calling 0800 824 824.

Image: Handshake by Aidan Jones. Licence: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)