10 September 2018
Masonic Charitable Foundation Launches Early Years Opportunities Grants Programme
Grants for charities in England and Wales that support disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people (up the age of 25 years) to overcome the barriers they face in order to achieve the best possible start in life.
The Foundation has set out new target areas for its grant-making programme which includes the Early Years Opportunities Grants programme.
Depending on their annual income level, registered charities in England and Wales that are working to create the best start in life for disadvantaged children and young people can apply for either:
- 1Large grants, which are for projects and can be used for salary costs, activities, materials, etc, of between £10,000 and £150,000 for up to three years, are available to charities with an annual income exceeding £500,000. The average large grant will range from £20,000 to £80,000. Occasionally, large grants of up to £150,000 are made for outstanding projects.
- Small grants, which are for core funding, are between £500 and £15,000 and are available to charities with an income of under £500,000.
All grants can be over one, two, or three years. Grant amounts should not exceed 15% of the total income of the applicant charity. Charities can only apply for one grant programme at a time.
To be eligible, applicants must provide:
- Mental and physical health support.
- Learning and development, including language and communication skills, social and emotional etc.
- Parental Support, including whole family approach.
- Pastoral and advocacy support.
The funding is for activities such as:
- Additional educational opportunities such as improving literacy and numeracy.
- Individual interventions, ie. parent education, home visiting or mentoring.
- Encouraging healthy behaviours with regards to diet, activity and wellbeing.
- Psychological interventions for domestic abuse and behavioural issues etc.
- Provision of vital adaptive technologies and equipment removing barriers
- Alternative methods or specialist therapies to help children and young people integrate into the mainstream education system.
There are two different deadlines for applications:
- 5 October 2018 for large grants applications (first stage).
- 26 October 2018 for small grants applications.