Helping Working Families funds projects that bring about positive change in the lives of working families who are affected by poverty and supporting a child.
Part of your grant will be used to fund the development of your project. This is a very different approach to other programmes and this is reflected in the application process.
We don’t expect you to describe what the project will deliver when you apply; instead we’ll fund an initial phase during which you work with the families you want to help to coproduce your plans and decide what the project should deliver.
Because of this, you won’t be able to describe your plans in detail when you first apply, as these won’t become clear until you’ve completed your development phase.
A strong application will have a clear plan and budget for the initial co-production phase. We want to see a good understanding of how to involve working families in your area.
Successful projects will show us that that they’ve worked in an equal partnership with the families who will use the service to plan and deliver the project.
What we mean by ‘poverty’
We mean that a family doesn’t have enough money or resources to meet its basic needs, including being involved in the community and wider society.
What we mean by ‘working families’
We mean that there is at least one person in a household who has a full or part time job, or who is self employed supporting at least one child under 18.
Coproducing your project with working families
- There’s no single way to co-produce a project – it’s up to you to decide what will work best for the families in your area. Talk to the families in your community to help choose the right approach.
- Even if you already understand your beneficiaries well, we still want to see that you’ve developed your plans in partnership with them. Think of yourself as a facilitator, rather than a service provider.
- Tap into existing networks (such as workplaces, schools and places of worship) to engage with harder to reach families.
- Show us that you have the relevant skills and experience to co-produce your project; if there are gaps in your experience let us know how you’ll address them.
- There’s no specific length for the co-production phase – it will depend on your experience and the families you’re working with. We’ll talk to you during the assessment process about how long it will take.