Announcing the new FCDO grant for ETC of PWD

We are very pleased to announce that the VPlus@GDPU programme, run by the UK based charity ETC of PWD, will now be co-funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)for the next two years.

This project has been awarded the grant from UK Aid Direct under the FCDO’s Small Charities Challenge Fund (SCCF). Their fund supports civil society organisations to achieve sustained poverty reduction. VPlus@GPDU is now a project funded by UK aid from the British people as well as all the generous donors to ETC of PWD.  

What is VPlus?

The VPlus programme is now goes by the longer name:  Enhancing the Capacity of Young Persons with Disability through Vocational and Literacy Education and Training. We will stick with Vplus; it’s shorter! Vplus will give youth with disabilities in Gulu, Northern Uganda and surrounding districts, suitable market relevant skills. It will of course, still be delivered by our long term partners: Gulu Disabled Persons Union.

The V stands for vocational training Plus, because that’s what the programme delivers, even more so with the new grant. Through key skills training – literacy, numeracy, financial literacy and so on – through psycho-social support which helps trainees develop the self-esteem we all need to get anywhere in life. Through employment and meaningful economic activity, VPlus trainees can gain the dignity and self-respect everyone deserves and truly become self-supporting and respected members of their community.

What difference will this grant make?

In a word, significant.

The grant amount, (£28,818) will match what ETC of PWD is putting in (£22,174, plus the money we have already contributed to setting up the programme. Much of the recent ETC of PWD funding by the way, came from contributions by individual donors. Now is the time to thank them again for their contributions, without their extra funds we would not have got this far. Many thanks again.

How long will the programme run?

With this grant, the VPlus programme will now run for two years. One year was all ETC could pay for and one year is never really enough to establish a sustainable training programme. There will be two cohorts of 50 trainees rather than one. Two times six months of vocational training, two times six months of Post-Training support. These extra funds mean for example that we can now afford some high-quality machines for training in Sweater Weaving and laptops for the new Computer course; machines that will last.

Covid 19

But, most significant in the current context is the refurbishment of the GDPU site to make it Covid 19 secure. Issues like the perimeter fence, the gatehouse for the watchman, paying for a matron/ nurse can all be solved properly now. Longer term funding brings the security and opportunities for future sustainability that underfunded organisations like GDPU need. This grant will help keep vulnerable staff and students safe and give them a real future to look forward to for the first time in their lives.