This programme is designed to fund interventions that support families with children to navigate a wide range of parenting issues at the earliest possible opportunity. The programme aims to enable parents, and the young people themselves, to build trusting relationships with providers that build confidence and enable early intervention to reduce the need for children and families being referred to statutory services or being taken in to care.
This programme will be delivered in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council and partner funders.
Important note: This page contains a summary of the The Families First Programme. For full details, please read the Programme Brief here. Please see the bottom of this page for a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
What will the programme focus on?
This programme will fund projects delivering parenting support and skills development through sessions delivered in the family home. There will be the opportunity to support families with children of any age between 0-19 years old, or up to 25 for children with additional needs. However, these grants will have a key focus on children aged 11-16 and will require the provider to support young people and their families during key transitional phases.
One of the areas of innovation within this programme is developing the confidence and skills of parents to support young people at this key stage in their development.
Parenting skills could be covered by a broad range of outcomes, including (but not limited to):
- Building positive relationships and trust;
- Improving Communication
- Reducing Conflict
- Setting and maintaining boundaries
- Building structures and routines potentially including developing interests
- Prevention and early intervention strategies to navigate challenges, build resilience and care for the mental wellbeing of parents and children
- Role modelling
- Improving home conditions (to ensure a house is suitable and safe for children to live there).
What can we apply for?
Grants will be for three year projects with annual funding cycles, with a potential for the work to be extended for an additional further year. Work will be delivered in one of four pilot areas:
- Ellesmere Port
- Chester
- Winsford
- Northwich
Applicants can apply for a maximum of £75,000 per pilot area in the first year (including any funding required for mobilisation), £100,000 in year two, and £125,000 in year three, recognising the ambition to expand the programme (in terms of volume and geographic area) as the programme progresses. Funding for years two and three will be dependent on satisfactory monitoring and the submission of clear and realistic plans for the future.
A maximum of one grant will be awarded per pilot area (maximum of four grants in total). Each applicant can apply to lead this work in a maximum of TWO of the pilot areas; however, we will accept additional applications which name them as a non-lead partner in other areas.
Applicants can apply for operational costs directly related to the delivery of parenting support services, including staffing, training, and resources. We also recognise that some applicants may require a mobilisation period in the first year of the grant, and we welcome applications which factor these costs in.
Who can apply?
We will accept applications from any organisation which:
- has the ability to work with Children and Young People and their families who live in one of the stated pilot areas
- meets our general eligibility criteria and grantmaking principles, including the demonstration of rigorous safeguarding processes and procedures.
- has a track record of working with families and/or carers.
- can demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
- has robust data management systems, combined with a thorough application of data protection protocols.
- can demonstrate a clear Theory of Change as part of their application.
We are especially keen to receive applications from organisations who:
- have clear plans and capacity to perform targeted outreach for the work, generating self-referrals to introduce families to the service. Referrals may also come from Cheshire West & Chester Council, particularly Navigators in the Early Help Service, who would encourage families to contact ‘Families First’ programme providers, where appropriate.
- can demonstrate the capacity to support families with disabled, SEN, and neurodiverse children and young people. This includes children who have not yet had a diagnosis.
- can demonstrate a highly qualified team with significant experience and track record of delivery in this area.
Partnership Applications
It is recognised that not all applicants may be able to deliver the entire range of services required and/or may feel that combining capacity/expertise with partner organisations may be beneficial. Collaboration is therefore encouraged and we welcome applications from organisations working in partnership or as a consortium.
In any partnership application, we would expect to see a small number of key partners with clearly defined roles which contribute to the goals of the work. It is recognised that you may partner with other organisations as the project progresses and needs are identified, but we only require details of your primary partners at the application stage.
Any partnership or consortium-based applications will be asked to provide a memorandum of understanding or other agreement to evidence partnership working, before funding is released.
Timeline and process
Please ensure you have read the full programme brief, located here, before you apply. We also strongly recommend that you read our Grantmaking Principles, as you will have to meet these to be eligible for the fund.
The programme will open for applications on Monday 23rd September, with a deadline for submissions of Sunday 10th November. Decisions will be communicated in mid-December 2024.
There will be a live Online Question and Answer session for applicants, taking place via Microsoft Teams on 9th October, at 10.30am. Applicants will be able to join and ask any questions which they may have about the programme and application process. You can join the session by clicking here.
All applications will be made via the Cheshire Community Foundation website.
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, for whatever reason, 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 (such as paper, video, verbal, online, face-to-face or other methods) for you to get us the information we need to assess your application.
Frequently Asked Questions
You will be notified of award in December and, once the necessary paperwork has been completed, we expect to make payments early in the new year. However, we appreciate the need for mobilisation work, so we are not expecting delivery on the ground from day one.
The most important thing is that you find the families that need the help. Some of this will come via the navigators but the programme is intended as self-referral. So, you can work with existing partners, including schools, who can recommend your services/support. And you can directly promote to families through appropriate channels. Whatever is appropriate in the area and to reach the right people.
If you intend to apply to LEAD in two areas, you will need to submit two applications (one for each area), so that each can focus appropriately on the detail of need and delivery in a particular area. However, we will only need one set of due diligence documents, and you are welcome to duplicate sections in both applications where relevant. We do not need you to type the same information out twice with different wording.
The point is that providers need build trusted relationships and understand the family’s needs. Being in the home helps to do this, but we also accept that there are circumstances where that might not be appropriate. Once connections are established and the nature of support is identified, not all activity needs to take place in the home.
Yes, as above; however, it is important to really understand the needs of each family and, if there is a specific request from a family to access provision outside of the home, the provider needs to understand the reasons behind this.
We need to see that there is no duplication or double funding, either for lead providers or partners. Therefore, please include in the application (in very simple terms) what you or your partner(s) are currently providing, who is funding that, and how what you are currently proposing is different and additional to existing provision.
Payments are usually annually, unless there is a specific reason for them to be paid on a quarterly basis. Either way, payments will be made in advance.
Yes. The Families First Programme can work with refugee and asylum seeking families.