Funding - Income areas

Developing innovative projects to address the prime and specific areas of the EYFS will help enrich the learning experience of the children in your care. However, to obtain funding you will have to demonstrate their quality and originality, as many grant-giving organisations do not wish to fund the delivery of the curriculum and other statutory responsibilities. Teaming up with other organisations in your local community, and seeking to develop projects that will have a lasting impact or that can be replicated by other settings, are good ways around this.

Regularly check what your local museums, libraries and schools are doing so you don’t miss out on great opportunities and projects that they may be leading on too. And, don’t forget to look at what grants might be available through your local ‘community foundation’ (www.ukcommunityfoundations.org), as regional grants tend to be less competitive and more in tune with local needs.

PRIME

Physical development

Inviting and well-equipped playgrounds and outdoor spaces can enhance children’s physical development, and help them gain confidence and self-esteem, contributing towards their personal, social and emotional development.

There are a number of National Lottery funding streams that you can apply for to improve your playground, such as the Awards for All programme (www.biglotteryfund.com).

Sport England’s small grants programme will consider applications from formally constituted not-for-profit organisations and statutory bodies to help more people play sport (www.sportengland.org).

Some businesses run funding schemes that might help your setting develop play areas and for outdoor equipment; for example, Tesco’s Bags of Help programme (www.tesco.com/carrier-bags).

Personal, social and emotional development

Foresters’ Fund for Children promotes a better quality of life for all children, regardless of race, religion and disablement (www.fffc.org.uk). You can also apply to more generic funding programmes or find local schemes. Many councils have community funding programmes that will consider funding early years settings.

Communication and language

One of this year’s priority areas for the Let Teachers SHINE programme, aimed at helping teachers implement innovative projects to support disadvantaged children, is improving school readiness with a focus on language and communication skills (www.shinetrust.org.uk). Hurry though, as the deadline is 17 April.

SPECIFIC

Understanding the world

Taking advantage of upcoming anniversaries of significant events is a great way to broaden children’s understanding of the world, particularly within ‘people and communities’. Some specific one-off grant programmes are set up to help you do just this. This year will mark the centenary of women’s vote in Britain, and to help you mark this in your community, a special grant has been rolled out in England. Any voluntary or community organisation, or school, can apply for a £300 to £2,000 grant (www.womensvotecentenaryfund.co.uk).

There are a number of foundations and organisations that run funding schemes aimed at raising awareness of the environment. The Nineveh Trust’s grant programme is open for applications from UK-based not-for-profit organisations and schools for a broad range of projects and activities that promote a better understanding of the environment and the countryside (www.ninevehtrust.org.uk).

If you are looking to raise money for a project concerning the environment, focusing on one particular aspect or theme may also open up further funding streams. The National Aquarium, for example, has a grant programme for projects that seek to promote marine conservation through engagement (www.national-aquarium.co.uk).

If you are looking to fund more ambitious projects, BBC Children in Need and the Wellcome Trust have set up the Curiosity scheme, offering grants of up to £10,000 for projects engaging children in science-based activities, in order to create change for children and young people experiencing disadvantage in the UK (www.bbc.co.uk).

Expressive arts and design

Funding to take children on trips to experience visual arts is difficult to obtain, so it is important that your project goes beyond covering costs. Teaming up with libraries, museums or other local arts organisations, and/or other early years settings, may help you secure funding for larger projects, which may then fall into consideration for other Arts Council grants. The Arts Councils in England (www.artscouncil.org.uk), Ireland (www.artscouncil.ie), Northern Ireland (http://artscouncil-ni.org), Scotland (www.creativescotland.com) and Wales (www.arts.wales) each run a number of different grant schemes, and it is well worth regularly checking the website of your relevant council.

If you can team up with your local school and are interested in developing a music project, the Youth Music Network also runs a grant programme that UK-based schools can apply to for projects that involve innovative partnership working, benefit the wider community and include activities that take place out of school time (http://network.youthmusic.org.uk).

In Wales, school-based settings may be eligible to apply for up to £1,000 to help towards visits to theatres, galleries, museums and other arts, heritage and cultural events and venues through the Experiencing the Arts Fund (www.arts.wales).

Mathematics

There are not many grants available specifically aimed at maths and the early years, but one way to get around this could be a project covering a range of STEM subjects. The Edina Trust Science Grant Scheme offers one-off grants of up to £420 for state-funded nurseries, which can cover a range of projects and costs, including:

• Scientific visits including trips out of, or visits to, the school.
• Purchase of science and gardening equipment.
• Improving the setting’s grounds for science.

The grant scheme programme is non-competitive and runs in different areas for three years, before moving on to a new area. To check if your local area is currently covered visit: www.edinatrust.org.uk.

Literacy

Purchasing books can be costly, but if your setting is state-funded and part of a school, you can apply to the Foyle Foundation’s School Library Programme, which awards grants between £1,000 and £10,000 to fund purchases of books (www.foylefoundation.org.uk).

Partnering up with authors and theatre groups, for example, to develop a joint project can also be a great way to improve literacy and could help you access Arts Council grants that would not otherwise be available to you.

Some businesses also run relevant grant-making programmes, and it is worth looking into local or national businesses working in relevant sectors. WHSmith, for example, runs a small grant programme (up to £500) aimed at literacy projects. There are two annual application rounds; the next one closes on 1 October (http://blog.whsmith.co.uk/community-grants-application).