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Pudsey Next Steps

The Pudsey Next Steps funding programme will help achieve greater equity, diversity and inclusion in our grant-making.

The first round opened in Autumn 2024. The deadline for Expression of Interest is 11:59am on Wednesday 16 October. 

It focuses on new applicants working in under-served geographic areas across the UK.

This round aims to reach under-served and marginalised children and young people. They may be affected by challenges including poverty, discrimination, and exclusion. For example, this could include care experienced or disabled children and young people. It may include children and young people from minoritised ethnic communities.

Areas where our funding is not reaching marginalised children and young people. We identify these areas using internal and external data and research.

When children and young people are treated differently or experience social, economic and political barriers. These barriers mean they are less able to participate in aspects of daily life or access services or opportunities. Children and young people can be marginalised due to a range of factors. These could include sexual identity, gender identity, gender, geography, ethnicity, poverty or disability.

BBC Children in Need commits to fairness and making a positive difference for children and young people. It is our responsibility to embrace a diverse, equitable, and inclusive approach to everything we do. Children and young people are great at this and we need to be too.

We encourage you to contact us with any feedback about our grant-making. We want to be as accessible and supportive as possible for your organisation. This could mean translating our application into another language. We will also speak to you to help clarify any questions.  If you need help to apply, please phone us on 0345 609 0015, or email [email protected].

As we get further on this journey together we will develop to ensure we are an equitable, diverse, and inclusive grant-maker.

We want our application process to work well for you. It’s new to us too, so we’ll be learning and improving as we go. Please let us know if you have any thoughts or suggestions for improving it.

The first round of Pudsey Next Steps is for new applicants to BBC Children in Need. We will support organisations which:
  • Address the specific local priorities identified for this round in their Nation or Region (see table below)
  • Have not been funded by BBC Children in Need before
  • Have an annual income of £100,000 or less
  • Are based in the community they serve
  • Are reaching children and young people aged 0-18 years who are experiencing inequality of opportunity
Organisations can apply for:
  • Grants from £1,000 – £15,000 per year for up to three years
  • Core (organisational running costs) or Project funding

 

If you would like to discuss applying to the Pudsey Next Steps programme, please contact your local team.

 

The deadline for Expressions of Interest for the first round of Pudsey Next Steps funding is 11:59am on Wednesday 16th October 2024.

Local Priorities for the first round of Pudsey Next Steps

 

Scotland  

In Scotland, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations that work with children and young people affected by challenges and barriers connected to discrimination, for example, racially minoritised children and young people.

 

Northern Ireland  

In Northern Ireland, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations which are either:

 

Situated in Strabane and Rural County Fermanagh that target marginalised children and young people impacted by poverty

 

Or

 

Reaching racially minoritised children and young people impacted by poverty, outside of the Belfast area.

 

Wales  

In Wales, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations situated in Caerphilly, Denbighshire, Monmouthshire and Powys that work with children and young people affected by challenges and barriers connected to discrimination, stigma and exclusion.

 

North of England  

In the North Region, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations situated in Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale that work with children and young people affected by challenges and barriers connected to discrimination, stigma and exclusion including being care experienced, disabled, racially minoritised or impacted by poverty.

 

Central England  

In the Central Region, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations situated in the Black Country (Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall) that target children and young people experiencing poverty.

 

South West England  

In the South-West, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations that work with children and young people affected by challenges and barriers connected to discrimination, for example, racially minoritised children and young people.

 

London  

In London, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations situated in the Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Merton, Newham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets. They must also work with at least one of the following:

 

    • Care experienced children and young people.
    • Children and families living in unstable, unsuitable or temporary accommodation, particularly refugee and asylum seekers

 

South East England  

In the South-East, the Pudsey Next Steps programme welcomes applications from organisations situated in Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, Gravesham, Hastings, Isle of Wight, Milton Keynes, Southampton and Thanet that are targeting marginalised children and young people impacted by poverty.

 

Not every organisation will be eligible for Pudsey Next Steps. It is important that you check the eligibility criteria carefully. If you are not eligible for the Pudsey Next Steps programme, you may consider applying to our rolling Project Costs or Core Costs grant programmes. You can apply to cover similar costs through these broad-based programmes.

Feel free to contact us on 0345 609 0015 or [email protected] if you are unsure which programme suits your organisation’s needs.

Pudsey Next Steps will open again in early 2025. The next round will have a different focus and priorities, informed by what we have learned from this first round.

Eligibility

  • Organisations which have not been funded by BBC Children in Need before
  • Organisations with an annual income of £100,000 or less
  • Not-for-profit organisations working with children and young people aged 18 or under
  • Organisations that work with children and young people who live in the UK, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands
  • You can only apply for and hold one grant at any time.
  • If we do not fund your application we will advise you when you are next able to apply to us.
  • Organisations which meet our Minimum Standards for Grant-making
  • Working with children and young people aged 18 years and under
  • Working in the heart of their communities, particularly in times of crisis
  • Putting children and young people at the centre of everything they do, from design to delivery
  • Addressing challenges faced by children and young people, building their skills and resilience
  • Empowering children and young people, and extending their choices in life
  • Keen to keep learning about and developing their work with children and young people
  • Committed to making a difference in children and young people’s lives
  • Work that statutory bodies (such as schools or local authorities) have a duty to fund
  • Educational institutions, including schools, universities, and pupil referral units. Special schools are the only exception; please see our A–Z Guidance for more detail
  • Local government, prisons, or NHS bodies
  • Capital or building projects
  • Projects that promote religion
  • Trips abroad, or other activity taking place outside the UK
  • Medical treatment or research
  • Pregnancy testing or advice, information, or counselling on pregnancy choices
  • Awareness-raising work, except where targeted at children or young people most at risk
  • Bursaries, sponsored places, fees, or similar costs
  • Holidays where there is little or no project involvement
  • Political activity, including party political organisations or direct lobbying
  • Individuals
  • Costs passed on to other organisations
  • General appeals or endowment funds
  • Help with budget shortfalls or debt repayments
  • Work that has already taken place – or any costs incurred – before the date we give you a decision (retrospective funding)
  • Projects unable to start within 12 months of the grant award date
  • Unspecified expenditure
  • Any activity that is already being funded through another grant. We cannot fund the same activity twice. All applications should clearly demonstrate that they are either for different work, or for work with a different cohort of children and young people.

It’s very important that you refer to our online A–Z Guidance before you apply for funding. It may also save you the time and effort of applying for costs we don’t fund. You should also check that you meet our Minimum Standards for Grantmaking.

Our A-Z Guidance includes details of our grantmaking policies. Some will be relevant to every application, such as our Safeguarding Children policy. Others are important for certain types of applications, such as work involving counselling, or projects seeking funding for equipment.

This programme is for organisations working in areas which we have identified as being under-served. You can only apply to us for work in these areas; please see the table above.

If you are not working in these areas, you may still be eligible for our Project Costs or Core Costs programmes.

  • Applicants to this programme can apply for grants for up to three years.
  • You can apply for between £1,000 and £15,000 per year.
  • The minimum you can apply for is £3,000 (£1,000 per year).

How do you apply?

    1.  Plan your project in detail. It may help to read our guide to planning your project before you apply. Poor planning is a common cause of unsuccessful applications.
    2.  Read our A-Z Guidance to help ensure you’re only applying for things that we can fund.
    3.  Read our Minimum Standards for Grantmaking to check that your organisation is eligible. If these standards are not met, we will be unable to support your work.
    4.  Submit your Pudsey Next Steps Expression of Interest form for us to consider against the specific national and regional priorities for your area (please see above). We aim to give you a decision regarding your Expression of Interest Form within six weeks of receiving it.
    5.  If we decide to progress your Pudsey Next Steps Expression of Interest to the next stage, we will send you a link to a full Application Form. You will then gain access to this form through your online account.

We will share copies of our Pudsey Next Steps Expression of Interest and Application forms here for reference. Please check back in a few days.

I have submitted an application form, what happens next?

After you submit your Expression of Interest form, we’ll send you an email to confirm that we have it. This email will give you more information about what happens next.

  • If your Pudsey Next Steps Expression of Interest is not progressed to the next stage, we’ll email you to explain our decision. Due to the high volume of organisations registering through this process, we cannot give you any further feedback at this stage.
  • If we do decide to progress your Pudsey Next Steps Expression of Interest, we’ll send you a link to a full online Application Form
  • Once we’ve sent you this link, you’ll be able to access the full application form in your online account
  • You will have until 11:59am on Tuesday 10th December 2024 to submit your full application.

After you submit the full application form, we’ll send you an email to confirm we’ve received it. This email will also give you more information about what happens next.

  1. First, we will check that the costs you applied for are eligible for our funding
  2. We may ask you to book a time slot with us for a brief phone call about your safeguarding procedures
  3. We may also ask for more information about your application or your work
  4. Applications are sent to a decision-making meeting in your region or nation, where a funding recommendation is made
  5. A final decision is made about whether to offer you a grant. Once a decision is made, we’ll email you to confirm the outcome. We will let all applicants to the first round know our decision in February 2025.

If your application is successful, we’ll send you an email to confirm this. The email will explain more about what happens next. You can also find more information in the ‘I have a grant’ section.

  • There may be some further conditions on your grant. These are changes you’ll need to make, or things you’ll need to tell us, before we can award you the agreed funding
  • You must start spending the grant within 12 months of the date that we email you our decision

If your application is unsuccessful, we’ll send you an email to confirm this. The email will give you a brief reason for our decision.

You can also contact us if would like further feedback.

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