Skip to main content

Welcome to our new website. You may still see some pages from our old site as we move things over.

Who can apply

You must apply as part of a partnership. We’ll give funding to the lead organisation, and they can then pay the other partners for the work they do.

Lead organisation requirements

Your organisation must be one of these:

  • constituted voluntary or community organisation
  • constituted group or club
  • registered charity
  • charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
  • not-for-profit company
  • community interest company (CIC)
  • community benefit society

As the lead organisation, you must also:

Partnership requirements

Your partnership must have experience of working:

  • with children under 5 years old and their caregivers
  • in the natural environment

We want organisations to bring together knowledge from across different sectors. For example:

  • early years
  • nature and the environment
  • health and wellbeing

Partnerships can also include:

  • schools, as long as your project benefits and involves the communities around the school
  • statutory bodies, such as local authorities, town, parish or community councils
  • private sector organisations

These organisations can be part of a partnership, but they cannot be the lead organisation applying for funding.

Board or committee member requirements

To apply, your organisation must have at least 3 board or committee members who are not related. If you're a company, you must have at least 3 directors who are not related.

We consider people to be related if they:

  • are married or in a civil partnership
  • are in a long-term relationship or live together
  • are related by blood or through a partner
  • live at the same address