Friday 26 July 2024

Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust launches - Service women 'Seen & Heard' programme for 2024/25


The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has launched Service women: Seen and Heard Programme under the Covenant Fund exciting three-year Funding Framework.

The Service women: Seen & Heard programme is now open for applications for one-year grants of up to £50,000 and two-year grants up to £100,000, for projects that aim to tackle issues enabling targeted support for serving women and giving access to support to which they can self-refer.

What is the Service women: Seen and Heard programme all about?

The Trust ran a public consultation in 2023, which identified that one of the key areas to focus on was ‘ensuring our Armed Forces communities are not disadvantaged’. This programme will enable serving women to make informed choices and access services that enhance their health and wellbeing and increase accessibility into activities and support, leading to significant improvements to Service women’s quality of life. The consultation findings are available to read on The Trust website.

The Service women: Seen and Heard programme will support projects which achieve all the following outcomes:

  • Enabling Service Women to choose activities and or/ find advice that improves their wellbeing, whether preventatively or at times of crisis.
  • Opening up choices for Service women who may not otherwise know where to seek help for issues which specifically affect them.

Organisations can either apply for a one-year grant of up to £50,000 or a two-year grant of up to £100,000.

Who can apply?

The Trust is inviting applications from registered charities, Community Interest Companies (CICs) and Armed Forces Units. Full eligibility details are available in our programme guidance document.

What type of projects are The Trust looking to support?

The Trust are interested in supporting innovative approaches or projects with strong user participation in the design process and are seeking applications from projects aimed at addressing the needs of serving women and the range of issues intensified from Service as well as those where support is less accessible compared to women in civilian life.

If you apply for a grant, you will need to show us how your project will help improve access to targeted support for Service women enabling them to make informed choices.  

The programme is now open for applications and the first closing date is 12 noon on 25 September 2024. You will receive a decision before end of November 2024.

Anna Wright, Chief Executive at the Trust said: "We've developed the ‘Service Women’s programme’ in response to community feedback, aiming to enhance the health and well-being of Service women within the Armed Forces community. This initiative provides targeted support, improving access to essential services and significantly enhancing the quality of life for these women, ultimately making a positive impact on the lives of our Armed Forces."

Find out more

Full details of this exciting new programme, including eligibility and how to apply can be found on the Trust’s website: www.covenantfund.org.uk

Keep up to date with funding opportunities

For the latest updates and announcements on each of the Covenant Fund programmes, and any other funding opportunities the Trust has available throughout the year, sign up to their e-newsletter via their website www.covenantfund.org.uk