Main Fund

International projects

We support work that improves the quality, sustainability, and access to education for young people up to the age of 25 within marginalised and deprived communities worldwide.

We will fund between £30,000 to £60,000 per project (maximum £30,000 per year for multi year projects) for projects which:

• Improve access to education – Including increasing the number of educational opportunities, especially for girls, (including construction of classrooms or latrines), increasing the number of qualified teachers trained in inclusive, non-discriminatory practices and improving community attitudes to educating children who are often excluded or overlooked.
• Improve the quality of education – Including enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, improving access to extra-curricular support, increasing child friendly resources, and increasing access to aspirational vocational training opportunities including STEM and IT.
• Improve the sustainability of education projects – Including encouraging educational projects with integrated community management or ownership, self-generating income and minimising their environmental impact.

UK projects

We support work that improves the educational outcomes and life chances of care experienced young people (under the age of 25 and living in the UK).

We will fund between £30,000 to £90,000 per project (maximum £30,000 per year for multi year projects) for projects which work with either care experienced young people, their carers or education professionals to:

• Improve access to educational opportunity – including support for care experienced young people to attend and engage in mainstream school life; increasing the number of education professionals able to understand their needs; equipping carers to understand the education system and support and advocate for the young people in their care, engaging with trauma-informed support; improving access to out of school support and educational activities.

• Improve educational outcomes – including enabling care experienced young people to learn in ways that works for them; supporting a broad range of activities that develop confidence and mental health in order to improve educational outcomes including support for carers to encourage learning and raise aspirations.

• Improve life chances – Including improving the support for care experienced young people (aged 16-24) to access further education, employment or training opportunities and improving support for them to remain engaged with these opportunities.

What we will fund:

• New or pilot projects, or projects which have started in the past 12 months.
• Funding is available for one to three years.
• We will fund between 25% to 100% of total project costs, but will give preference to projects with some degree of matched funding.
• Annual grant payments cannot exceed 50% of an organisation’s three-year average income.
• We will fund overhead contributions up to 20% of the total grant.

Who can apply:

• UK registered charities with an income normally between £25,000 and £2.5 million.
• Charities must have at least three years of continuous accounts submitted to the relevant UK Charity Commission or Regulator.
• Charities must be financially sound and registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
• Organisations should be directly involved in the provision of the project activities. We do not fund organisations whose primary purpose is fundraising.
• Organisations must be committed to minimising their impact on the environment and be able to evidence how they have considered climate change adaptation and / or mitigation in their projects.
• Organisations must have their own safeguarding procedures that comply with the relevant Charity Commission guidance as a minimum, and include any additional legal or regulatory requirements specific to their work.

Educational Opportunity Foundation does not usually fund:

Long term projects; services which are available through the state education system; summer camps; bursaries, school fees or scholarships; expeditions, volunteering trips and conferences; international travel; projects where unforms, transport or running costs are the main expense. In the UK, we will not fund projects which are not designed specifically for the needs of care experienced young people.