How we help

If you’re the parent or carer of a disabled or vulnerable child in Gloucestershire, get the financial support you need to make a difference to their everyday life.

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Help for parents and carers

Whether you’re desperate to adapt elements of your home to better care for your child’s needs, or desperately need some support or respite from the daily struggle, we fund activities like these that can help relieve, enrich and transform your family’s life.

Help for organisations

As an organisation, school or institution that cares for local children in need, get the financial aid you want to make a difference to their lives and your work. From installing specialist equipment and funding expert staff training, to getting stimulating recreational programmes up and running, we can help you to make a real difference to the children and families in your care who need it.

How we help

We help make your life-enhancing ideas a reality by giving grants to those individuals and organisations that meet our aims and funding criteria. You can be a parent, a carer, a small or medium organisation, looking to implement a new or existing idea. You must be based in the county of Gloucestershire (UK). Occasionally, we will consider supporting organisations operating beyond Gloucestershire if you can show that our grant will benefit children or young people within the Gloucestershire area.

Do you qualify?

To qualify for one of our grants, your project or idea must be:

• For the benefit of children or young people (under 21 years old) classed as children in care, or with disabilities
• Of benefit to individuals residing in Gloucestershire (UK)

The Trust looks for activities which:

• Make Gloucestershire a better place to live for our target beneficiaries
• Encourage self-help and resilience
• Develop realistic and sustainable plans
• Deliver strategic solutions
• Bring positive change and measurable impact

Funded projects can or have included, for example:

• Installing ramps within the home to improve mobility or accessibility
• Buying sensory equipment for a children’s hospital to aid progress
• Creating a hydrotherapy facility to benefit an entire school
• Funding specialist riding equipment to allow disabled children to experience horse riding
• Delivering training for teachers and other professionals to improve outcomes for their pupils
• Making improvements to a garden or living spaces to improve a family’s quality of life
• Adding interactive equipment across a school to improve the experience for children in need
• Installing a sensory storytelling chair to better help children to engage
• Putting on activities that have tangible therapeutic outcomes, build resilience or emotional development

We work closely with Gloucestershire County Council and local services. In most cases (particularly for individual grants) we will receive a supporting statement from a social worker, support worker, head teacher, therapeutic or medical professional. In this instance, please speak to your social worker or professional about moving your application forward.

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How much money you could receive

Our grants range from £100 up to £100,000. The majority of grants we give to individuals fall between £100-£1,000, with larger grants being considered for organisations. Grants are normally for a single year, but we can consider a limited number of grants spread over the life of multi-year projects. In special cases, we will also consider larger grants to a project of major importance to Gloucestershire.

Multi-year grants and grants over £10,000 are only available to organisations. Following your application the Trustees may request additional information or meet with you to discuss your proposal. The additional information Trustees may ask for will help us to further assess the impact, feasibility and sustainability of the work, and might include an organisation’s accounts, a financial plan for the works and their sustainment, or proof of insurance. We will want to discuss whether payments should be made in instalments, and how we can measure the impact of the work.

Activities we do not fund

There are some restrictions to the projects or ideas that we will fund. For example, applications for the following will be turned down:

• Creation of ‘artificial projects’ in an effort to obtain our funding
• Religious and political causes
• General fundraising appeals
• Sponsorship of individuals
• Medical research
• Activities that are already underway, or facilities/equipment already purchased
• Activities that are the responsibility of public or statutory sources

How to apply

You will need to complete and submit an application form to be considered.