Forces families to benefit as dedicated fund returns
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.
