Armed Forces Families Fund - Supporting Partners: Innovation Fund

Aims/priorities: Funding is intended to pilot practical new solutions that help partners of serving Personnel to reduce the challenges of service life. 

Projects must meet one of the following aims:

  • Encouraging new ways of enabling peer to peer support.
  • Enabling better access to employment, education & training, or wider support.
  • Reducing duplication and making it easier for partners to access knowledge and information that is relevant to their lives.

Funding could be used to support work such as:

  • Supporting partners to access paid employment or education.
  • Finding solutions for partners facing challenging situations with overseas postings (whether going overseas or coming from overseas).
  • Piloting specific support for partners, who may have different challenges to spouses.
  • Exploring solutions to challenges arising to family life from newer forms of hybrid working and deployments.
  • Helping partners overseas to better understand their options with regards to training and employment.
  • Exploring issues specific to non-traditional families.

Grants can cover must costs associated with a project or activity, including:

  • Staff time, including time required to manage volunteers.
  • Sessional staff or freelancers.
  • Appropriate clinical supervision for workers who are supporting vulnerable individuals.
  • Purchasing items that can enable the project’s activities to take place (such as art materials, sport/games/outdoor equipment).
  • Purchasing items may be needed to provide support, such as additional telephones or laptops.
  • Reasonable costs for storing and transporting items, including wear and tear on private vehicles.
  • Reasonable overheads that reflect the cost to the organisation of delivering its services.

Who can apply? The following types of organisations can apply:

  • Armed Forces bases, stations or units.
  • Charities.
  • Community Interest Companies (CICs).
  • Universities.

Charities and CICs must have been registered for at least two years at the time of application, with at least three unrelated trustees/directors.

Grant amount: Grants of £20,000 to £50,000 are available, to be spent within one year of award.

Application process: Guidelines and an online application form can be found on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust website.

Deadline: The deadline to apply is 12 December 2022 (5pm). Decisions are expected by the end of February 2023.

Contact information: Email info@covenantfund.org.uk

Website address:  covenantfund.org.uk