The ALMT Grant Making Guidelines

The Trust supports projects engaged in alleviating the suffering of children and young people in the UK and overseas, enabling them to hope for a brighter future. 

Historically the ALMT has funded a wide range of projects and aims to keep a balanced portfolio across our priority areas.  In 2020/21 we funded a total of 37 projects with 59% of funding going to projects in the UK and 41% of funding going to projects across the world. We recommend familiarising yourself with the projects on our website to get a flavour of the type of projects we fund.  We are looking for innovative and creative solutions to proven problems and select projects with clearly identified objectives where the outcomes can be monitored and evaluated.  We are very interested in projects that effect longer term change for the most disadvantaged young people. This ensures a positive impact for beneficiaries and a high social return on any investment made by the Trust and its Donors. The ALMT aims to fund a wide variety of projects and maintain a balanced portfolio.

Funding is prioritised for grassroots partners, which have an average annual income of no more than £1,000,000 over a five-year period. If your income is above this level, we recommend contacting us prior to making an application. 

Organisations new to the ALMT can apply for an annual grant up to £20k, though it should be noted that most grants are below this amount (in 2020/21 the average grant size was £13,018).  Existing partners can apply for a grant up to £25k for up to 3 years. The ALMT recommends a discussion with the Partnerships and Grants Officer before applying for 3 year funding.

We require that the applicant must be a registered charity or Charitable Incorporated Organisation and have representation in the UK. The ALMT will consider applications from schools and school PTAs in the UK where funding will support disadvantaged children’s learning outside school and benefit the wider community. 

Definition of Children and Young People:

The ALMT will provide funding for children up to the age of 18 or young people up to the age of 25 who are considered vulnerable, for example they may: 

1. Have an Educational Health and Care Plan in place from their Local Authority;2. Be homeless or at risk of homelessness:
2. Have had a teenage pregnancy;
3. Be careleavers;
4. Be young offenders;
5. Have a disability or Special Educational Need

Please note that this list is not exhaustive. Please contact the Charity Partnerships and Grants Officer if you have a specific enquiry about eligibility.

We invite applications in the following areas: 

• Bereavement and palliative care for families, adults, children and young people
• Projects/initiatives that enable disadvantaged/vulnerable children and young people to participate fully in society and increase social mobility

• Educational scholarships and learning support for children and young people This year the ALMT is specifically interested in early intervention projects which address the root causes of inequality. Therefore, in 2022, as well as the areas above, The ALMT will be actively seeking projects which: 
• look to address the widening education gap;
• provide early support with mental wellbeing for specific groups;
• support Early Childhood Development.

We will not consider applications requesting support for the following:  

• Construction
• Research
• Disproportionate overhead and management costs
• The promotion of religion
• Party political activities

We work with partner organisations directly involved in project implementation. We do not fund grant-making bodies to make grants on our behalf. 

How to apply for a grant: 

Grant submissions are in three stages and successful applicants are decided on a tri-annual basis on or around February, June and October. Interested organisations should contact the ALMT Charity Partnerships and Grants Officer with their project ideas so that the ALMT can assess suitability prior to completing an application.  Completed first stage applications should be received by: 3^rd May 2022, 5^th September 2022, 3rd January 2023.

The Charity Partnerships and Grants Officer will work with applicants to develop their proposal prior to the second stage of the process and may request additional information on policies and procedures where appropriate (for example; child protection and safeguarding; diversity; the environment)

ALMT Charity Partnerships and Grants Officer: Rebecca.pirt@almt.org

First stage – First stage applications must include:   

• A completed first stage application form (available from the Charity Partnerships and Grants officer)
• An outline of your proposal on no more than 2 sides of A4
• A detailed project budget showing what costs you will incur whilst achieving the project aims.

Please use the following headings to structure your proposal:  

1. A brief description of your organisation’s aims
2. An explanation of the need for the project and any evidence you have to support this.
3. A description of the project for which you are seeking funding, how does it address the need?
4. The beneficiaries of the project (outputs) – what will the project actually do? and how many people will join in?
5. The outcomes/ impact of the project – what difference will the project make to the beneficiaries and how will you measure this.
6. Reporting procedure; how will the ALMT and its donors know their money has been spent in the best way?
7. Potential risks to successful implementation of the project and how these will be mitigated
8. Continuation /sustainability of the project – if you intend to continue with the project after the ALMT grant has finished. Please outline how you intend to do this.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the ALMT with any queries about the proposal and budget.

Please attach: 

• A copy of your organisation’s most recent accounts (or an income and expenditure budget for the current year if your organisation is new)

Second stage – Referral to a member of The ALMT Partnerships Committee: 

• If you are successful in your first stage application, your charity representative may be contacted to arrange a time to meet and discuss your application with a member of the ALMT Partnerships Committee.  

Third stage – Decision: 

The ALMT board of trustees meet to make decisions three times per year in February, June and October. The trust will contact you promptly after the decision has been made.

Reapplication

Should your application be unsuccessful you are able to request feedback and can reapply to the Trust for a different project.  

Partner organisations can reapply for the same, or a different project, for a consecutive period of up to 4 years.  Should funding have been received for 4 years in succession partner organisations should wait for a period of 2 years after submitting their final project report prior to reapplying. 

These guidelines were approved at the Trustees Meeting on 9^th February 2022 and are reviewed annually.