The Aspire Awards
Over the last eight years we’ve given more than 400 Aspire Award grants to help pay for education courses, training and equipment and support start-up businesses. The grants have helped our customers to achieve their dreams, further their careers and progress their talents.
Read more about previous Aspire Award winners, from University nursing student, Naomi, to aspiring Olympic athlete, Ahmed.
**Aspire Award applications are now OPEN**
The Aspire Awards are open for applications from 15 May to 31 July 2023.
The awards are judged and granted once a year with funding available under four different categories.
Please note the applications will be judged in August, after the closing date of 31 July 2023 and the decisions will be announced around September 2023.
Please make sure you study the application requirements and terms & conditions before submitting your applications. It’s highly advised to fully answer each question in order to submit a robust and comprehensive application. To help you achieve the best outcome, we have put together 7 Top Tips for completing your application and Frequently Asked Questions.
Good luck with your application!
Your Career
We’ll pay for training and equipment to get you back into work or help you start your own business. This funding is available to cover the costs of starting your own business, training course fees and specific course equipment and workwear. Grants will be considered up to a maximum of £1,500.
Exclusions are detailed in the terms and conditions.
To apply for this category online, click here.
Or, to download a copy of the application form and apply, click here.
Your Talent
This funding is available for customers with a proven talent in their field to cover costs of training or equipment to help you achieve the highest level of success. Grants will be considered up to a maximum of £1,500.
Exclusions are detailed in the terms and conditions.
To apply for this category online, click here.
Or, to download a copy of the application form and apply, click here.
Your Degree
Once a year we will offer funding of up to £9,250 to cover university tuition fees for a customer that is looking to start or is currently completing an undergraduate degree.
We also offer grants to cover the cost of academic books for a customer studying an undergraduate degree.
Exclusions are detailed in the terms and conditions.
To apply for this category online, click here.
Or, to download a copy of the application form and apply, click here.
Your Community
This funding is available for projects or initiatives that will help make the local community, neighbourhood or estate a great place to live, that will benefit Guinness customers and are supported by the local community.
Awards can range from £50 to a maximum of £5,000 per project, per year.
Exclusions are detailed in the terms and conditions.
To apply for this category online, click here.
Or, to download a copy of the application form and apply, click here.
Please note: Our Aspire Awards are open to Guinness customers or service users that have held a tenancy or received a service from us for over 6 months.
You’ll need to let us know exactly what you want the funding for, so make sure you’ve found the course you want to complete or how much the equipment you need will cost.
Additional guidance
We've put together 7 top tips for completing your Aspire Awards application.
Please click here to read the 7 top tips for completing your Aspire Awards application.
If you have any questions, please see our frequently asked questions.
Please click here to see our Frequently Asked Questions.
What we fund and What we don’t fund
Take a look below for a quick guide on what the Aspire Awards do and do not cover.
* for exceptional circumstances only
Any questions?
If you still have any further questions about the Aspire Awards please get in touch by clicking the button below.