Ford Motor Company Fund (Ford Fund), the philanthropic arm of Ford, working with their international grant-making partner GlobalGiving, has announced a £1 million investment to the end of 2025 to support Halewood and the wider Liverpool city region.

This community investment underpins Ford’s £355 million commitment announced in 2022 to its Halewood Plant, on Merseyside, which is transitioning to electric vehicle power unit production.

Ford Fund’s aim is to expand access to essential services including food provision for the underserved as well as to educate and prepare young people for the future world of work, bridging the gap between teaching and real-world industry experience. Ford Fund and GlobalGiving will collaborate with key partners including Torrington Drive Community Association (TDCA), Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and Strawberry Field.

“As the global philanthropic arm of the company, we are delighted to work with our Ford teams and non-profit partners around the world to expand access to opportunities to help people and communities move forward,” said Mary Culler, President, Ford Motor Company Fund.

“This year we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of Ford Halewood plant with our first power units for electric vehicles. Ford and its employees are fully committed to our community, and it is wonderful to continue to expand and strengthen our outreach, working with key partners in Halewood and the wider region to help make a difference to local people’s lives,” said Lee Meyers, Halewood Plant Manager.

Ford Fund is committed to investing in communities where Ford has a manufacturing presence, and Ford’s Halewood Plant has long been at the heart of the community, with employees donating wages and food items to support a number of charitable endeavours over many years. The shop floor charity committee, founded in 1983, passed the £1 million donation total in 2015, and is focused on the changing needs of its local area. Ford Halewood is ramping up to start production this year of electric power units for Ford all-electric passenger and commercial vehicles in Europe, making it Ford’s first electric vehicle power unit production site in Europe.

As part of this new community investment, GlobalGiving, Ford Fund’s international grant making partner, has provided initial grant funding to support the renovation of the New Hutte Neighbourhood Centre, the base from which non-profit TDCA provides the vast majority of their essential and accessible support to Halewood residents. TDCA is a vibrant grassroots organisation devoted to enhancing the quality of life for residents and supporting and empowering them to voice and tackle concerns around poverty, social isolation and education. The funding will also support TDCA’s food provision from an on-site café and food hub, social supermarket and mobile food service. The New Hutte Centre will join a network of global Ford community centres in Detroit USA; Pretoria, South Africa; Craiova, Romania and Bangkok, Thailand.

Working in partnership with Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and the Studio School, funding will be directed to further develop project-based learning provision to be shared more widely across schools within the Northern Schools Trust and others in the wider Merseyside area.

The project-based learning approach gives learners a unique set of tools that help them to become “work ready” as they have gained a wide range of technical and transferable skills that are desired by an industry, but which are not traditionally taught as part of the standard national curriculum. Working with Ford Fund and the Ford Halewood plant, topics including lean manufacturing, data science, mobility and transportation will be piloted.

The Steps to Work programme at Strawberry Field empowers young adults aged 18 to 25 with learning difficulties, who are neurodivergent or have barriers to employment. The programme provides work readiness training, industry placements and volunteering options.

There will be further opportunities this year and next for additional non-profit organisations to submit grant applications related to the Ford Fund’s key focus impact areas – essential services, education for the future of work and entrepreneurship. Details on how to apply will be provided later this year on www.fordfund.org.

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