Funding
There are many sources of funding for parenting education and support projects but it can be complicated, time consuming and frustrating to find the funder that is right for your project.
Your regional government office can give guidance and information on current funding sources and application procedures and the External Funding Officer of your local authority can also offer advice.
www.governmentfunding.org.uk is an online portal to government grants for the voluntary and community sector. It is free for organisations with a turnover less than £500K. The site contains searchable information and downloadable application forms for grants available to the sector. Subscribers can receive email updates and apply for grants online. A directory of users and a Bulletin Board provide opportunities for networking.
The main government funder in the field of parenting education and support is theDepartment for Children, Schools and Families which has responsibility for the Children, Young People and Families grant programme (application period for 2008-9 grant now closed).
Each local authority has been asked to develop their own Parenting Strategies and each one now has a Parenting Commissioner. Parenting Commissioners have responsibility to ensure that the right services are provided in the right places locally. Your local Parenting Commissioner may be looking for just the parenting support services that you can provide.
Core funding for coordination and administration of local strategic multi-agency provision should be sought from the main local providers as short term funding on a project basis can undermine local partners' commitment to the strategy and inhibit effective long term planning.
Partnership working is often the key to success - a small voluntary, community or private provider may carry out work as part of a larger project led by a large statutory or voluntary agency - or a statutory agency may find that, to access funding aimed at the non-statutory sector they can extend their services by contracting some work to a voluntary agency - or two or more agencies may join forces to undertake a project in which each agency provides one aspect required by the funder.
For current and ongoing funding sources please visit Government Funding and Other Sources.
Useful Links
The following provide general guidance and information on funding:
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