Deadline: 18-Sep-24
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is offering grants to improve the quality of life for Service families impacted by relocation during Service.
Projects may deliver help for Service families moving to, or settling into, a new location, or to reduce the impact of frequent moves. Service families can experience challenges arising from relocation, including moving away from existing support networks, which may have practical and emotional implications.
They hope to support projects which seek to boost links with local communities, improve access to services, and increase opportunities for integration, through projects that offer preventative, and/or early intervention approaches, with an emphasis on health and wellbeing. Support offered may include equipping families to effectively deal with practical issues such as cost of living impact, as well as the emotional challenges that isolation can bring.
Aims
- To improve the quality of life for Service families impacted by relocation as a direct result of Service life by addressing some of the unique challenges and issues families can face, increasing support and boosting links to local communities.
Themes and Priorities
- They want to support early intervention projects that assist military families in accessing services as they relocate. These initiatives will help families integrate into their new communities and build lasting friendships.
- Your project will need to contribute towards at least one of these outcomes.
- Provide families with ongoing information about available resources when relocating to unfamiliar areas.
- Provide families with access to enjoyable resources that meet their needs and improve wellbeing.
- Reduce isolation and loneliness by helping families build support networks.
Funding Information
- You can apply for a grant of up to £120,000 in total towards a project being delivered over a period of between two and three years.
Eligible Projects
- They are looking for early intervention projects that will help the families of serving personnel access services as they relocate as part of Service life; helping them to integrate into their new communities and build networks and friendships. Projects should offer preventative approaches, with an emphasis on health and wellbeing.
- They are looking for targeted projects with a clear focus on change, which address one or more of the following outcomes.
- Enable effective information that supports families to understand what’s available when moving to new and unfamiliar locations, away from established support networks and extended family. Ensuring this information remains accessible after the grant period ends.
- Families can access activities that are enjoyable, meet their needs and improve their wellbeing.
- Reduce isolation and the impact of loneliness through enabling families to develop effective support networks.
- This might include projects that:
- provide early intervention support to prevent issues escalating and help families make informed choices.
- engage Service families effectively with a range of support on issues that matter to them.
- inform Service families of existing statutory and welfare provision, and ensure it is available and accessible when they need it most.
- build capacity for Service families by increasing awareness of, and improving links and referrals to, existing services and complementing existing welfare provision.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible to apply for this funding you must be a charity registered with one or more of the charity commissions for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Applicant organisations must be based in the UK and delivery must take place in the UK only.
- Whilst they will consider applications from charities that are not Armed Forces specific, you will be expected to show that you will work in partnership with Armed Forces organisations. If you do not have substantial recent experience, or if working with this sector is new to you, you’ll need to make a strong case for why you are now wishing to do so. Substantial recent experience of supporting Armed Forces communities means that either the governing documents of your organisation state that you specifically work with people from Armed Forces communities, or that you can show that working with Armed Forces families or serving personnel is a significant and regular part of your existing work.
- This could include work with military bases or units, where the work will create the development of tangible links between civilian communities and local command, and offer different routes into support, such as referrals by welfare teams and self-referrals.
- The following additional eligibility requirements also apply:
- Your organisation must have been registered in the UK (with one or more of the charity commissions for England and Wales, or Scotland or Northern Ireland) for at least three years at the time of your application and able to provide published accounts for all three years if requested.
- Your organisation must have a minimum of three unrelated trustees at the time of applying, and, if successful, throughout the life of your grant. This must be verifiable at all times on the relevant charity regulator’s website.
- The following restrictions may apply:
- Organisations cannot apply more than once per funding round under this programme.
- If they receive more strong applications than they can support, they may give priority to projects that help ensure that Armed Forces families located in different parts of the UK, and in each of the services, can benefit from this programme. They may give priority to applications for funding towards projects and services that have already proven to be effective.
- They may decline applications from current Trust grant holders if your reporting requirements for existing grants from the Trust are not up to date.
Ineligible
- Childcare providers (including Early Years).
- Community Interest Companies (CIC’s).
- Organisations seeking to make a profit from their project. For example, an organisation could not be awarded a grant to develop a training course which it then charges the Armed Forces community to attend.
- Schools, regardless of their charitable status.
- An individual.
- An Academy Trust.
- A charity which is newly registered.
- Other public sector organisations – but you could work with one of the types of organisations listed above, as a delivery partner.
- A charity that is based overseas.
- Community organisations that do not fit any of the eligibility criteria, such as a sports organisation which is not a charity.
- Not-for-profit organisations that are not registered as a charity.
- A private or for-profit company.
- Local authorities.
For more information, visit Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.