Early Years Lunch & Learn webinar
The first round of the Early Years Programme closes on 24th July 2024.
The Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme will award grants to projects which help enhance early childhood education and childcare settings to meet specific needs of young children from Armed Forces families.
Did you join us for our recent Lunch & Learn webinar focussing on the Early Years programme which took place on 12 June 2024?
During the webinar, Trust staff provided an overview of the programme and advice on how to make a really good application.
Our Director of Policy and Communications, Sonia Howe, kicked off the session with an introduction to the Trust. She discussed the first round of the new Armed Forces Families Fund Early Years programme and its objectives for supporting Armed Forces families. Sonia also explained how the webinar has been designed to support applicants in submitting good applications for the programme.
Meeting the programme outcomes
Grants Officer and Programme Lead, Rachael Storr explained the programme guidance in more detail, highlighting that this year we’ve moved to an outcome-based approach. Projects will need to meet at least one of the outcomes outlined in the guidance and will need to have at least 50% Service children on their roll. To ensure that settings who have smaller cohorts of Service children can apply, we have introduced the opportunity to form ‘clusters’ of two or more settings to apply.
Making a strong application
Attendees had the chance to hear more about what makes a good application and how to ensure that they meet the requirements set out in the programme guidance. Policy Officer, Jo Brettell, provided an overview of the programme outcomes and some examples of the types of project which would meet these outcomes.
Jo also highlighted the range of additional resources which are available to support the application process; these include detailed programme guidance, a video guide to completing your application, some top tips and frequently asked questions.
Potential applicants were encouraged to use these resources when writing their application. Good applications will explain why a project is needed, will be developed in partnership with Armed Forces communities, and will demonstrate the lasting impact beyond the life of the grant.
A detailed Q&A session
Finally, attendees had the chance to put their own questions forward during a detailed Q&A session which covered a range of queries including queries about meeting outcomes without incurring capital costs, queries about eligibility and how the Trust share information on projects funded under the programme.
Find out more
The full webinar recording is available to watch in our Knowledge Network.
You can access all the additional resources mentioned in the webinar on our dedicated programme page.
Dates and deadlines
If you plan on making an application, there are two application deadlines this year.
If you apply by 12 noon on 24 July 2024, you’ll receive a decision before the end of September 2024.
If you apply by 12 noon on 20 November 2024, you’ll receive a decision before the end of March 2025.
We cannot accept late applications, so make sure you leave plenty of time to submit your application.