Here you can find a number of FAQS that the Taith Youth Sector Organising Body have put together to assist applicants;
Can organisations registered in England or elsewhere in the UK apply for Taith funding?
There is scope for UK based organisations who operate in Wales but aren’t registered here to apply to Taith. The activity has to cover participants who are actively engaged in a Welsh organisation and the application has to demonstrate how the proposed programme will benefit Wales but they don’t need to be registered in Wales. For more information see page 34 of the Taith Programme Guide.
Do projects have to be new or can we apply for Taith funding to run a previous/existing project?
No, projects do not have to be new, applicants can apply to fund re-running past projects. Projects which are already funded are not eligible.
What age groups can participate?
For young people participating the age ranges go from 11 to 25 for activities like youth exchanges. Learners wishing to take part in volunteering opportunities, training courses and so on, will need to be between 16 – 25. For staff/professionals participating there is no upper age limit.
Are countries outside Europe included in Taith?
Yes. Organisations and individuals travelling outside of Wales may apply to travel to countries across the world. When finding partners and planning projects make sure to check the UK Government’s Foreign Office for travel advice and a list of countries prohibited due to instability or conflict. Applicants should take care to arrange activities in stable and safe countries for the benefit of all participants.
How many international partners do we need to include?
You must partner with at least one organisation in a country outside the UK. If you are applying for ‘Group mobilities – introductory travel experience’ as part of your application, you can partner with organisations within Scotland, Northern Ireland and England but the project must also include a partner from outside the UK for the international element of the project.
Do we need to include a specific partner in our application?
You do not need to have a partner(s) in place at the time of application. If you do then please provide as much detail as possible in the application but if you are still to identify a partner, you will just need to detail what kind of partner you are looking to work with and why. The more detail you can provide on this the better, to demonstrate that the proposed project has been well thought through and that appropriate plans are in place to make it a success. If you have identified a partner in your application and these plans change at a later stage that is fine, you would just need to demonstrate that you have a clear rationale for the change and that it will not impact your overall aims and objectives of the project.
Will our international partners have all their project costs covered to travel to Wales?
No. The Welsh Government is prioritising mobility opportunities for Welsh learners to travel outside of Wales. Project funding for inward mobilities for participants to come into Wales can comprise up to 30% of your project budget for outward mobilities.
Are staff salaries/time included in project costs?
The answer is no for Pathway 1, but organisations are able to use organisational support budget to cover some of these costs if feasible.
If successful, will we get all our funding awarded up front?
No but a substantial advance payment will be transferred once the grant agreement is signed, with further payments made on completion of project milestones such as submission of interim or final reports.
Will we be able to work with sectors other than Youth?
Yes, but bids would still have to go in to one sector not both. So if a school and youth group worked together on an application they should decide which organisation would apply to which strand, either Youth or Schools and so on.
Are all project costs covered?
Funding is calculated on the basis of ‘unit costs’ covering things like travel, subsistence and organisational support. The funding model has been designed to ensure that organisations are able to cover all the project costs but this is dependent on the management of the funding and organisations sticking to the pre-set unit costs. More information on the grant rates and what is covered can be found on pages 121 – 125 of the Taith Programme Guide.
How many bids can our organisation put in per funding call?
Each applying organisation can only submit one application per funding call. However, you can include as many activities in the application as you want – there is no maximum number. You can apply for any or all of the young people and staff activities, and can also apply for multiple of the same activities – e.g. a group mobility to France and a group mobility to South Africa.
How many funding calls are there per year?
Currently there is one funding call planned per year per sector – the current call deadline is 12th May. There is a possibility that an additional funding call will be opened later in the year depending on the level of applications. If and when this is decided, further detail will be shared on the Taith website and directly to interested organisations. There is no guarantee of an additional funding call however so Taith encourage you to make the funding call deadline of 12th May if you have a project in mind.
Will I have to cover visa costs for learners?
Travel related exceptional costs (such as visas, passports and vaccinations) are covered for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – see page 118 of the Taith Programme Guide for the definition for Youth. Visa costs for other participants are not covered and will need to be covered by the individual participants, though grant funding for organisational support can be used for this where feasible.
Will the Welsh Government sponsor visa applications for participants travelling to Wales?
The Taith team is currently working on this and will issue further guidance in due course.
Is there additional funding available for disadvantaged learners or those with additional needs?
Yes, there is additional funding for disadvantaged learners and those with additional needs – see page 124 of the Taith Programme Guide for further details.
Can we apply for funding for projects to work with Erasmus+ partners? Where they for example apply to the Erasmus+ programme in their countries to cover their costs and we apply to Taith to cover ours?
Yes, this is allowed under the Taith funding rules and is something to be encouraged. Taith would encourage you to mention any project activities linked with Erasmus+ purely for transparency and would expect that the Taith project activities demonstrated a new activity.
Where does training for participants sit in the budget? (E.g. Pre-departure trainings, on arrival training etc.…)
At the moment there is no funding allocated for this and any costs incurred for these types of training would need to come from the organisational costs.
For the system development projects activities, does it only cover organisational outreach activities or can it include youth-led activities?
If the youth-led activities are developed and organised through a staff mobility then yes absolutely. However, it is only the staff mobility that will be funded. If you wanted co-development of these activities with young people then this could be a young person mobility project activity included in your application in conjunction with a staff mobility project activity.
What is Taith’s flexibility in terms of changes to project activities or not reaching intended targets after a grant has been awarded?
If an organisation fails to meet all their intended targets in their application then they will need to repay any unused budget. If an organisation is much more successful and achieves over and above their targets then unfortunately they cannot apply for further funding until the next funding call.
Taith encourages all eligible organisations applying to be ambitious with their targets and activities as long as they can justify them and they are realistic for that organisation.
Taith understands that there may need to be changes to project activities as a result of challenges with partners, destination country and/or changes to circumstances . If this is the case for your organisation you will need to get in touch with the Taith team to let them know what you plan to change and why, and to explain how the new activities will meet the aims and objectives as laid out in your application.
Are Taith providing budget for carbon offsetting for travel?
At the moment no. However, environmental sustainability is one of Taith’s cross cutting themes and the team are looking at ways to better embed this into the programme. Any ideas you have would be welcomed by the Taith team so please do get in touch with them to discuss.
There is a question on sustainability in the application form where you can detail what you are doing to ensure the project is as sustainable as possible. You can also use this section to detail decisions around country destinations if these has been influenced by environmental considerations.
You can find more support on our Taith Resources page; https://www.cwvys.org.uk/taith-resources/