CHILDREN IN NEED

The Children in Need Small Grants Programme provides funding for not-for-profit organisations that support children and young people aged 18 and under who are experiencing disadvantage through:

o Illness, distress, abuse or neglect;
o Any kind of disability;
o Behavioural or psychological difficulties; and/or
o Living in poverty or situations of deprivation.

Organisations must be working in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, combating disadvantage and making a demonstrable difference to children and young people's lives.

Priority will be given to projects where a relatively small amount of money can make a big difference.

Grants of up to £10,000 per year for up to 3 years are available. There is no requirement for match funding.

During the year ending 30 June 2016, Children in Need allocated Small Grants totalling £6,900,000 to 1,342 projects. £700,000 was awarded to 82 projects in the South West of England (see page 13 of Children in Need's Annual Report for a year-by-year breakdown).

Organisations that are already in receipt of a grant from Children in Need can apply for further funding to keep running the same project or for a different project. Applicants need to be able to provide convincing evidence of the differences the grant has made to the lives of the disadvantaged children and young people the organisation has worked with.

Organisations who currently hold an award from the Children in Need Main Grant Scheme can apply for a Small Grant as long as it is for work with a different group of children and young people.

Funding is not available for:

o Work which statutory bodies (such as schools or local authorities) have a duty to fund;
o Local government or NHS bodies;
o Building project applications of more than £20,000;
o Projects which promote religion;
o Trips or projects abroad;
o Medical treatment or research;
o Pregnancy testing or advice, information or counselling on pregnancy choices;
o Awareness-raising work, except where it is targeted at those children or young people most at risk;
o Bursaries, sponsored places, fees or equivalent;
o Individuals;
o Organisations working on behalf of other not-for-profits;
o General appeals or endowment funds;
o Budget shortfalls or debt repayments;
o Projects where the grant expenditure is due to start before the grant award date (usually referred to as "retrospective funding");
o Organisations which have applied in the last 12 months;
o Projects unable to start within 12 months of the grant award date;
o Unspecified expenditure; or
o Organisational overheads or running costs which the organisation would incur whether the project was running or not. However, consideration will be given to funding support costs incurred as a direct result of running the project.

The 2018 application deadlines are 11.50pm on each of the following dates:

o Thursday 1 March;
o Sunday 13 May;
o Sunday 2 September; and
o Sunday 2 December.

Applicants are required to refer to the A-Z guidance when making an application.

Further information, including an application form, is available on the Children in Need website.

Contact details for Children in Need are:

BBC Children in Need
PO Box 649
SALFORD
M5 0LD
Tel: 0345 609 0015
Email: pudsey@bbc.co.uk

(Source: GRIN)