Grants of up to £20,000 are available for up to 18-months for individuals, groups and small organisations in the UK who want to explore a new idea for social change.
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Ideas and Pioneers Fund aims to provide grant support for people aged 18–30 (while the programme prioritises the 18-30 age group, the Foundation will accept applications from those aged 30 and over. It does not accept applications from those aged under 18) to explore their ideas for social change. The Foundation is especially interested in funding ideas at the earliest stage of development, particularly from people who may not have much experience of applying for or receiving funding, but warrant support.
The Foundation is particularly interested in applications that demonstrate:
A connection to the idea you want to explore. The Foundation will prioritise funding people with direct lived experience, meaning applicants have personally experienced the issue(s) they want to explore. It also welcomes applicants with indirect experience (for instance, applicants have seen how this issue affects people around them, perhaps in your family or community) and learned experience (applicants have taken steps to learn more about this issue, whether formally through qualifications or a job, or informally through exploring it themselves).
The drive and potential to make social change. The Foundation is not looking for a track record of experience or success and will assess applications on the strength of individual ideas, and
They haven’t previously received grant funding. The Foundation wants its support to reach people who would benefit from it the most, including those who haven’t accessed funding or support to explore their idea
The Foundation wants to fund ideas that:
- Challenge injustice - ideas that show a clear vision to help build a better society by shifting power and challenging and transforming the root causes of systemic oppression. This includes but is not limited to racism, ableism, classism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and/or transphobia. The Foundation recognises that what happens at the small scale reflects what happens at the large scale, so it is equally interested in ideas working at a local level to those working at a national level.
- Are at an early stage -the focus of the Fund is on supporting the earliest stages of exploration and to help applicants learn from what does and doesn’t work.
- Are original – the Foundation wants to support people imagining new ways to make social change, which could mean trying things that haven’t been done before or experimenting with an approach that is new to the context in which applicants are hoping to work, and
- Are long-term – applicants can see the long-term potential of their idea and are motivated to share their learning with others to make change beyond the lifetime of the funding.
Examples of the type of activity that could be funded (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
- Developing a product or new approach.
- Gathering evidence for a campaign.
- Paying yourself or others to deliver the activities being applied for.
- Research to develop your idea, and
- Talking to people with relevant experience to better understand your issue
Grants of up to £20,000, and a flexible support package will be available to help organisations develop their ideas. Applicants can be based anywhere in the UK.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply is available on the Foundation’s website.
The deadline for applications is Monday 16 September 2024.