The £1 million Fund is looking to support the growth, increased effectiveness and measurement of impact of projects, led by not- for- profit organisations, aimed at improving children’s cognitive development through actively engaging parents in their children’s learning. It will be looking for projects primarily targeted at children from disadvantaged backgrounds aged between 2-6.
Funding for the projects will range from £50,000-£200,000 over a funding period of two to three years, with project delivery starting between April and September 2015.
Example uses of the grant money might include employment of a new member of staff to provide strategic or administrative support, covering the costs of setting up an additional delivery setting, or expanding provision at an existing setting.
An expert evaluation team will be supporting the projects throughout in order to help them develop evidence of impact and, more generally, in order to identify and implement the active ingredients in successful parental engagement interventions.
The Fund is open to not- for-profit organisations (including community groups, voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises) with promising parental engagement approaches and organisational potential to grow and improve their work in order to reach more children and families. The Fund will not make any grants to statutory organisations such as schools, universities or local authorities; however, the interventions may take place in these settings.
They are particularly interested in providing support to projects being run by mid-tier organisations (with an anticipated turnover in the region of £100,000-£10,000,000) which may face challenges in terms of ensuring the sustainability of their projects.
Expressions of interest should be submitted via an online form by Friday 5 December 2014, 5pm.
For further information and to apply, visit: www.suttontrust.com/programmes/parental-engagement-fund/, or contact Maisie Monroe, on 0207 802 1927 or email: [email protected].