What we want to fund
You will be helping other organisations with:
- capacity building
- co-production with children under 5 years old and their caregivers
- designing and caring for outdoor spaces that benefits people and nature
- evaluation and learning
Working with stakeholders
To help organisations funded by Meithrin Natur to deliver their projects well, you’ll need to:
- understand how nature improves the health and wellbeing of children under 5 years old
- build strong relationships with them and agree on the best ways to work together
- communicate well with different audiences
- support their projects, from planning to development and delivery
- be flexible and able to respond to their changing needs
- work closely with us to make sure projects meet their goals, on time and within budget
Capacity building
To build capacity in the organisations funded through Meithrin Natur you must:
- share approaches that'll help them to run their projects
- create guidance and resources
- build confidence and skills
Share approaches that'll help organisations to run their projects
We'll expect you to help organisations to define and measure connecting with nature. For example, guidance or frameworks on nature connection, mental health and wellbeing.
Create guidance and resources
You'll need to create guidance and resources to help organisations run their projects. This could include information about:
- child development. In particular, working with children under 5 years old. And with their families or caregivers.
- nature and the environment
- health and wellbeing
Build confidence and skills
You must support organisations to deliver their projects successfully. And help them to handle new challenges.
Co-production
You must help organisations to:
- use co-production with children under 5 years old and their caregivers
- work in partnership
- use co-production tools
Help organisations use co-production You'll help organisations collaborate with the people they support. Co-production should happen throughout their project, including when they plan, develop and deliver the project. You might help them do this through training or coaching.
Support partnership working
You'll give guidance and best practice on how they can work in partnerships with other organisations.
Share co-production tools for children under 5 years old
You’ll support organisations to use co-production in their projects. As well as build on their own knowledge of co-production. This means helping them to design their projects with the children and caregivers they support. For example, you could share advice, techniques or approaches.
Evaluation and learning
We’ll expect you to support organisations to evaluate their projects. You must show them how to:
- plan or commission evaluation to get useful evidence that supports their project aims
- use and share what they've learned
You’ll need to share safe and ethical research practices with these organisations. And we’ll expect you to follow GDPR. For example, you might help achieve these objectives by helping them:
- measure how connected someone feels to nature
- create outcomes or indicators
- make evaluation plans
You’ll gather and share learning from all the projects with the organisations and the Fund.
Working with adults at risk, children and young people
You need to have a policy in place that explains how they’ll be safe. If you get funding you’ll need to follow our safeguarding expectations.
The NCVO website has resources and advice on child safeguarding.
Running your project in Welsh and English
Projects in Wales must be bilingual. This means people should be able to engage with your project in both Welsh and English.
To help you do this, you should:
- read our guidance on managing bilingual projects
- read about our Welsh language standards
- speak to Welsh language communities when planning your project
You can include the cost of bilingual services in your budget, like the translation of promotional materials.
For more support, contact our Welsh language team at:
welshlanguage.advice@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk
Considering your environmental impact
We want to fund projects that consider their environmental impact.
In your application, tell us how your project will reduce harm to the environment. Or how it’ll have a positive environmental impact. This could include reducing travel, waste, or energy use.
You should:
- make an environmental action plan
- read our guidance on reducing your environmental footprint
- visit environmental sustainability for insights, case studies and funding opportunities