Projects supporting military families can bid for a share of funding as the latest round of the Armed Forces Families Fund opens for applications.
The Fund, which is administered on the MOD’s behalf by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, is available to organisations who want to launch projects that have a positive impact on the lives of military communities.
Applications for the 2023 fund can be made from Monday 3 April, with full details of eligibility criteria and how to apply available on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s website. The Families Fund welcomes applications for projects under three key programmes:
* Service Pupil Support Programme; a programme that awards grants to schools to help address additional challenges that children from Armed Forces families may face
* Supporting Partners Innovation Fund; a programme that will fund innovative support for partners of those who are serving.
* Early years Fund; a programme which will fund projects that help support young children from serving Armed Forces families to have great places to learn and develop. The Armed Forces Families Fund was created to help implement parts of the UK Armed Forces Families Strategy following its launch in January 2022.
Last year’s round of funding supported 84 projects benefiting Armed Forces families, including a Safe Space and Support scheme for the 86 Service children attending Somerset’s Stanchester Academy.
The bespoke, supervised safe space is used as a meeting place, homework room, and dining area, as well as a location for an additional Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) to provide one-to-one tutoring.
The project also allowed the Academy to train a member of staff as a ‘Bounce Forward Armed Forces Resilience Champion’, providing resilience sessions and community events to improve the lives of Service children and their families.
Teacher Rebecca Hendry, who applied for the grant, said: “We have a high number of pupils that transfer to our secondary school in later years or midway through the year.
“Many of our students experience having a parent deployed or based elsewhere and away during the week. By funding a specialist ELSA staff member and offering them extra tuition combined with a safe space, we can ensure that they have all the support needed to help them.”
Get involved
For full details about the Armed Forces Families Fund, including eligibility criteria for each programme, deadline dates and application guidance, visit the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s website.
