The Start Well group under the Regional Partnership Board (RPB) has agreed to allocate £25,000 of Integrated Care Fund (ICF) to run the Small Grants Scheme.
This year the focus of the funding will be around emotional health and wellbeing and the whole school approach.
Each application for a grant will be for a maximum of £2,000 to develop community level activity for children and young people either at early years settings, school, college or educated other than at school (EOTAS) to promote good mental health and wellbeing.
Grants may be considered for larger amounts based on the strength of their business case, particularly if they are collaborative applications.
The projects are required to support the following objectives for children and young people:
- Early Intervention and prevention
- Good emotional health and mental wellbeing.
- A community focus
- Value for money
- Promoting resilience
- Being collaborative
- Working flexibly/virtually in response to Covid-19 restrictions.
There is a recommendation for projects to consider:
- Whole School Approach
Applications will need to consider the impacts of Covid-19 and how projects can work/be delivered in flexible and innovative ways.
You may want to think about virtual/remote ways in which projects can be delivered.
Applications to include a Covid-19 risk assessment.
This is one off, seed corn funding to build capacity. Grants will not be awarded to substitute existing funding streams, business as usual or to generate ongoing demand which cannot be met from within existing resources.
Grants cannot support the purchase of equipment.
Grants will not be funded to support applications that seek to adavance particular political or faith based perspectives.
Any intervention projects supported will need to demonstrate an independent and objective evidence base.
Grant applications will need to clearly state what outcomes/impacts they expect to deliver and describe how they will evidence the impact following project delivery. (please include how this supports children and young people’s confidence and health, ability to respond positively to opportunities, demonstrates resilience and ability to interact with new experiences/ideas)
Grant applications will also need to provide information regarding plans to mainstream/sustain/close the activity at the end of the grant.
Grants may be used to enhance existing good practice, to assist transformation and change and to test out new models.
The scheme is open to all sectors. (Community groups, voluntary organisations, Health Board, Local Authority, other public sector organisations and private businesses)
