Following a year-long suspension of its grant programmes, BBC Children in Need, a major grant-provider for organisations working with vulnerable children and young people aged 18 and under, has announced a new strategy that will see it start funding charities’ core organisational costs. As well as this new funding stream, under the strategy, BBC Children in Need will continue funding project costs. Additionally, from Spring 2023, Children in Need will also provide Emerging Grants for new organisations or ideas.

The following grant schemes are now open to application:

o Core Grants Funding Stream – towards an organisation’s central operational and running costs, and
o Project Grants Funding Stream – to support the aims and delivery of a specific piece of work.

Children in Need is currently retendering its Emergency Essentials programme for delivery to commence from June 2023. Emergency Essentials provides funding for items that meet a child's most basic needs. 

The Children in Need Grant-making Strategy 2022-2025 focuses on the principles of:

o Acting flexibly.
o Building partnerships to bring communities and investors together.
o Sharing power with children and young people, and
o Using its voice to build awareness and empathy around issues.

Core Grants can support organisations for up to 3 years. The maximum grant is £120,000 (or up to £40,000 over 3 years), although the majority of grants are for much less than this. Charities are able to spend its core organisational costs funding flexibly on their central running and operational costs. This might include management and administration, general office costs, accountancy and audit, fundraising, and governance/compliance costs.

The Project Grants Stream supports the aims and delivery of a specific piece of work. This work will usually be time-limited, and based on a defined set of activities. As with the Core Grants scheme, Project Grants can support organisations for up to 3 years. The maximum grant is £120,000 (or up to £40,000 over 3 years), although most awards will be for much less than this.

Details of the new Emerging Grants Funding stream are yet to be announced, but these are expected to focus on building and diversifying the range of organisations and work that BBC Children in Need supports. This will see it target newer organisations and groups that are under-represented in its portfolio of grantees, and that it may not have funded before. Funding will support emerging organisations, ideas, projects and approaches for work with children and young people, and could be to help on an emerging issue, a new area of focus/audience, or a way of doing things differently. The funding stream will also permit project, core costs or a combination of both. Children in Need has stated that more information will be released in due course.

Applications to the Core Grants and Project Grant programmes may be made at any time and are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Further information, guidance and details about how to apply is available on the Children in Need website.