Cheshire Community Foundation are delighted to announce the return of the EMR Building Brighter Futures programme for 2025.

The EMR Building Brighter Futures programme supports charities in targeted areas across the UK, who are delivering projects for young people in the following areas:

• Positive Relationships
• Health and Wellbeing
• Careers and Education

This programme will fund projects for young people between 11-19, or up to 25 for young people with additional needs. Funded work will focus on work which:

• Improves young people’s aspirations, self-confidence, and ambitions for the future.
• Projects that improve relationships, helping young people to develop the right network around them
• Projects that support Health and Wellbeing, both physically and mentally.
• Projects that support Careers and Education – that open doors for young people and help them to build important new skills; achieve their full potential in education or move into a job or start work-related training.

Funded projects will be delivered within a 5-mile, or 10-mile if specifically stated, radius of a specific EMR Yards in the following areas:

What can organisations apply for?

The typical grant size will be between £8,000 and £10,000, and applicants can apply for up to £20,000; however, the panel may consider funding up to £40,000 for especially strong projects which evidence a clear need and intervention. If the panel decide to award a higher amount, they may contact successful grantees to ask how they would spend any additional uplift to their grant. We expect to award at least £50,000 in each region.

All projects must finish delivery by the end of December 2025.

Who can apply?

All applicants will be required to meet our general eligibility criteria, as well as our Grantmaking principles and minimum standards.

• Be a small to medium-sized charitable organisation – with an income of no more than £500,000. Regional organisations are not eligible to apply.
• Demonstrate that the project is designed to support young people between the ages of 11 and 19, or up to 25 years of age for people with additional needs
• Have a strong understanding of the issues affecting young people and a proven history of delivering services and activities, making a positive difference to their lives
• Have the expertise to collaborate effectively with partners, referral agencies and other stakeholders
• Have robust outcome monitoring and reporting methods and be able to contribute to the Fund’s Social Value questionnaires required for this grants programme (see programme criteria)

How do I apply?

Please apply using the link below. Please note that CCF’s normal geographical criteria do not apply to this programme; all grants must be within the specified radius of an EMR Site, which are listed further up this page, as well as in the full programme brief.

All applicants will need to submit the following, specifically relevant to the project for which you are applying:

• An application form completed using the ‘Apply Now’ button at the foot of this page.
• A photograph which sums up your project. This could be a picture of your project being delivered, or one of the young people you have worked with previously.
• A brief quote from a young person, parent/carer, or project worker, which brings your work to life. This should be no more than a sentence or two.
• A 60 second video, where you briefly summarise the work your organisation does, the project you want funding for, and the difference it will make in the lives of the children and young people you work with. This video can be filmed on a phone, webcam, or any portable device. The video should consist of a single shot of somebody talking to camera and does not need to contain any additional effects or production.

Timeline

This programme will open for applications on 19^th November, with a deadline of Sunday 12^th January 2025. We expect all applicants to be informed of our decision in early March 2025.

Projects will be expected to conclude delivery by the end of 2025, allowing for a maximum duration of 9 months.

Funded projects will be required to submit monitoring and evaluation reports, as well as an EMR survey, in January 2026.

Depending on demand, we may choose not to take every application through a full assessment. This decision will be made on how closely your application fits the programme aims. If we decide not to take your application through the full process, you may hear back from us sooner than the above date.

All applications must be made online via Cheshire Community Foundation’s website.

If you have any questions, you can email us to arrange a chat via grants@cheshirecommunityfoundation.org.uk or call the grants team on 01606330607.

Accessibility

At Cheshire Community Foundation, we believe that everyone should be able to access our funding opportunities fairly. We recognise that some people may experience barriers when applying to us. If you need any additional support applying for any of our grant programmes due to a disability or poor health, please contact us at grants@cheshirecommunityfoundation.org.uk, or by calling 01606 330607. A member of our team will be happy to support you on your application journey, or to find alternative ways for you to get us the information we need to assess your application.