Please note: We are asking organisations interested in applying for funding through these programmes to submit their Stage One application by 8 October 2024. We cannot accept new Stage One applications for this round of funding beyond this date.
We are committed to continuing our support for disabled people through these six programmes, using £50 million of the donation we received this year. This new funding will be available for charities and organisations, including existing grant-holders, to apply for in 2025.
Who can apply?
A growing number of large and small charities are now providing travel training schemes.
Through our new Travel Confidence Grant Programme we will help them, and travel providers, to make an immediate impact for disabled people.
Examples of grant funding from this programme could include (but are not limited to):
- Grants to improve awareness of responsibilities and influence policy and practice in the transport sector
- Funding to embed a user-led approach to inclusive design and delivery of transport services
- Grants to scale, promote awareness of, and increase access to, travel training programmes that increase skills, knowledge, confidence, choice and control when travelling
- Grants to support the development of accessible tools and technology solutions that support journey planning and in-journey navigation
Charities and organisations can apply for grants from from £100,000 to £1.5 million. To ensure fair and transparent awarding of funding, each application will be assessed consistently against our criteria.
Why are we doing this?
In a transport system that is not yet fully inclusive, disabled people have told us that they are not fully empowered or supported to travel independently.
4.4m disabled people say that services ‘not going where I need to go’ is a challenge.
The design and delivery of transport services are not led by the needs and experiences of disabled passengers, and a lack of user engagement by transport providers and planners often results in inaccessible design and delivery of infrastructure, services, and vehicles.
Through our research, disabled people have told us that negative in-journey experiences, such as poor staff attitudes or public behaviour, disempower them and put them off making journeys by public transport.
A Scope report found that 1 in 5 of those who had requested assistance 24 hours in advance found it did not turn up. Scope’s Travel Fair Report found that 54% of respondents felt anxious ‘always’ or ‘often’ when using public transport.
Travel training programmes provide a range of support from general travel awareness, to planning and completing an end-to-end journey.
Travel training equips individuals with coping mechanisms and skills to build resilience against challenges, and prepare for changes that can possibly happen during day-to-day travel.
Statutory help, in relation to transport, drops significantly for many disabled people when they reach a certain age or stage in life. This is especially true for those who have the ability or skillsets to benefit most from these travel training schemes.
Guidance for applicants
If you would like any of the following documents in an alternative format such as Easy Read, please complete our Grants to Organisations and Charities online form and an allocated Grant Manager will get back to you.
