Deadline: 07-May-24
Comic Relief is seeking applications to support organisations that work to empower young people who are at immediate risk of, or experiencing homelessness to access the right support at the right time.
At Comic Relief, they believe that everyone should have a safe and decent place to call home. They recognise that over the last six years the scale of youth homelessness across the UK has increased, with an estimated 136,000 young people, aged 16-24 presenting to their local authority as homeless or at risk of homelessness between 2022-2023.
Young people facing homelessness come from diverse backgrounds, highlighting the importance of providing holistic and tailored support that can address their diverse and multiple needs. Support services should be inclusive and accessible to all young people, with staff who understand and help them successfully navigate often complicated referral pathways. Organisations delivering these services should meaningfully involve young people with lived experience to better meet the needs of those affected.
They are aware that that the stigma that many young people feel when accessing support services can act as a major barrier to seeking support in the first place. This is due to negative ideas and attitudes towards homelessness amongst the wider public, with many believing it is linked to individual decisions and choices rather than structural or systemic issues.
Funding Priorities
- Through this funding programme, they will provide flexible, core funding to organisations which do both of the following:
- Specialise in the provision of holistic support to young people aged 16-25 in the UK, who are at immediate risk of, or experiencing homelessness. Support services should be tailored, inclusive and accessible, to remove barriers and better meet the multiple and diverse needs of young people at immediate risk of or experiencing homelessness. This work could be delivered by the applicant alone or in partnership.
- Meaningfully involve young people with lived experience of homelessness, or who have been at risk of homelessness. This should include involving young people in the development of the organisation’s work and priority areas, and/or in the running of the organisation.
- Although not a requirement, they are also interested in hearing from organisations who work to change public attitudes towards youth homelessness and/or reduce the stigma and discrimination that young people face. This influencing work can be done either by the applicant or by working in partnership with others to effect change.
- Flexible, core funding is designed to support the good work of organisations, and not just projects. This could mean core funding of the organisation’s annual budget to continue its good work, or funding to expand the work, or to add something new that amplifies the work or its results.
Funding Information
- Up to £200,000.
- From 36 to 60 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- UK based organisations that currently specialise in supporting young people at risk of, or experiencing homelessness in the UK, and meet Comic Relief’s general eligibility criteria.
- Organisations that have an annual income from £250,000 to £10 million.
- Comic Relief predominantly funds charities.
- Proposals can be made by single applicants, or by partnerships of two or three organisations that will receive funding (but only one organisation can act as grant holder)
- You are welcome to include collaboration with government organisations, but Comic Relief will not directly fund government organisations.
- To give as many organisations as fair a chance as possible, organisations can only submit one proposal (though they can be named as partners on any number of applications). Please be aware they will not read more than one proposal per organisation.
Ineligible
- Please note they will not fund:
- One-off conferences or workshops (unless part of larger, ongoing work).
- Individual and group sponsorship, bursaries, or funding study by individuals.
- Organisations or activities with a partisan political stance.
- Activities which evangelise (preaching or spreading religious beliefs) or proselytise (trying to convert people’s belief or religious views).
- General appeals, or marketing appeals
For more information, visit Comic Relief.