United Kingdom: BBC Children in Need seeking Applications for Main Grant Program

Deadline: 13 January 2020

The BBC Children in Need is inviting charities and not-for-profit organisations to apply for its main grant program.

The project they fund make differences in children’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Projects achieve these differences by either working directly with children or seeking to improve their social and physical environments.

Focus Areas

Children and young people of 18 years and under experiencing disadvantage through:

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

Grant Information

Main Grants Programme is for grants over £10,000 per year to support projects for up to three years.
There is no upper limit for Main Grants but they make very few grants over £120,000 (or £40,000 per year) and most grants are for much less.

Eligibility Criteria

Registered not-for-profit organisations that work with disadvantaged children and young people of 18 years and under who live in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
Organisations who currently have a Main Grant, as long as applicants funding is coming to an end within the next 12 months.
Applicants can apply for further Main Grant funding to keep running the same project, or on a different project.
Applicants will need to be able to provide convincing evidence of the differences their grant has made to the lives of the disadvantaged children and young people they have worked with.

They don’t give grants:

To unregistered organisations
For work which statutory bodies (such as schools or local authorities) have a duty to fund.
To educational institutions including schools, universities, pupil referral units. The only exception is special schools.
To organisations who have been active for less than three years.
To organisations with income over £2 million.
To local government, prisons or NHS bodies.
For capital or building projects
For projects which promote religion.
To fund trips or projects abroad.
For medical treatment or research.
For pregnancy testing or advice, information or counselling on pregnancy choices.
For awareness-raising work, except where it is targeted at those children or young people most at risk.
For bursaries, sponsored places, fees or equivalent.
For holidays where there is little or no project involvement.
For political activity or, to party political organisations or for direct lobbying.
To individuals
For general appeals or endowment funds.