BBC Children In Need Core Grants

Grants available for: core costs of organisations supporting disadvantaged children and young people
Size of grants: Up to £40,000 per year over 1-3 years (overall maximum £120,000)
Next deadline: Their application process is being redesigned. They will accept new applications from September 2025

Aims of Fund

To create lasting, positive change across the UK for the children and young people who need it most.

Who can apply

Grants are given to not-for-profit organisations working with disadvantaged children and young people aged 18 years and under, living in the UK. Your group needs to have strong safeguarding policy and practice, public liability insurance, and up-to-date accounts – follow this link for full details of their minimum standards for grantmaking.

You must be able to show that the majority of children your organisation is benefiting are experiencing disadvantage, and you must support children and young people to participate in the planning and running of your projects. This A-Z guidance has further information.

How much and what can you apply for

Up to £40,000 per year for up to 3 years, for essential organisational and administrative spending. These are the key expenses required to keep your organisation running, and include things like:

  • Management and admin
  • HR and payroll
  • General office expenses
  • Accountancy and audit
  • Communications and outreach
  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning
  • Governance, regulatory and compliance costs

Applications of £15,000 or below will receive a quicker decision, and therefore be able to start sooner if the bid is successful. They do not usually fund as much as £40,000 per year. You must be a registered charity or registered with companies house in order to apply for more than £15,000.

If you are looking for funding for activities and project costs, you should apply to Children In Need’s Project Grants instead.

See the fund’s website for more details of what they will and will not fund.

How to apply

Important Update about our Grantmaking

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving our systems and processes, BBC Children in Need are transitioning to a new grantmaking system. This transition will take place throughout 2025 and we will launch our new system by the end of September. During this period there will be some disruption to our grant programmes.

As a result BBC Children in Need are no longer accepting new Expressions of Interest applications until we launch our new grantmaking system, by the end of September 2025

There is a Frequently Asked Questions page on their website with more information.

Contact details

London and South East Office
BBC Children in Need
BBC Broadcast Centre BC2 D1
201 Wood Lane
London
W12 7TP
0303 080 1145
 
[email protected]
https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/grants/

Page last checked: 12/05/25 AC

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