Three or four grants of between £250,000 and £500,000 are available across the UK to support the core costs of drop-in mental health hubs for young people aged 11 - 25.
The Prudence Trust is offering a new funding opportunity to support the core costs of drop-in mental health hubs for young people aged 11-25. As part of its commitment to early intervention, the Trust is keen to build the case for a network of early support hubs in the UK, driven by the Fund the Hubs Campaign, Youth Access and the recent Department for Health & Social Care Shared Outcomes Fund. The aim of the funding is to showcase a small number of these high-quality hubs which bring the model to life.
The Trust is seeking hubs that are integrated within the local healthcare and voluntary sectors, and rigorously evaluate impact so that the model can be more widely and consistently scaled up and funded. Whilst the Trust is interested in youth work, this funding round is not aimed at youth clubs and is specifically for drop-in hubs which offer mental health interventions to young people with early signs of mental health struggles.
This opportunity is for organisations who already run an early support “drop-in” model open to young people aged 11-25. Applications, which are encouraged from hubs in a variety of locations - urban, rural and coastal regions - across the UK, will only be considered from organisations who meet the following three eligibility criteria:
- UK registered charities or Community Interest Companies (CICs) with an annual income of £1 million or over.
- The charity or CIC must be running an early support hub in a physical space, open to local young people (aged between 11 - 25) in need of support or guidance, and
- The organisation must have experience of running a hub for at least the past three years.
Applications will not be considered from unregistered charities, those whose work is not primarily focussed on young people, or hubs that have not yet been running for 3 years. Organisations that are interested in applying in partnership with another organisation, providing at least one organisation meets the above criteria, are requested to contact the Prudence Trust by email at grants@theprudencetrust.org
The total grants budget for this round is £1.5m. The Trust expects to award 3-4 grants of between £250k and £500k each over a 24-month period. Requests won’t be considered for an annual grant amount that is more than 20% of your annual income (for example, if your income is £1 million, you can apply for a maximum of £200k per year ie a maximum grant of £400k over 24 months).
Grants are for core costs to support the delivery of high-quality early support hubs, ensure that the model has a strong evidence base and quality assurance process, and ultimately get these hubs to a place where they are better able to leverage future funds. Grants can be used for (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
- Staff time to deliver services.
- Training for staff or volunteers.
- Costs for evaluation or quality assurance of hub services, and/or
- Costs supporting the development or strengthening of relationships with local clinical services.
There is a 2-stage application process for the Fund, consisting of:
- Stage 1 - brief applications through the Trust’s website until 2pm on Monday 9 September 2024.
- Stage 2 – a long list of applicants will be invited to apply to the Stage 2 Full Application by 2pm on Monday 21 October 2024.
The Trust will arrange in-person assessment visits during the week of 11–15 November 2024 and grants will be awarded in December 2024.
The Trust has scheduled a Question & Answer webinar for 10.30am on Friday 23 August 2024. While it’s not necessary to attend to webinar in order to apply to the Fund, potential applicants may find it instructive. Places can be booked at this link to Zoom.
Further information about the Early Support Hubs Fund is available on the Trust’s website.