Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust: Service Women: Seen & Heard programme 2025/26
Overview
Programme Overview
Grants available: Grants up to £100k for two-year projects.
Funding on behalf of: The Armed Forces Covenant Fund
Project length: Up to two years
Programme aim(s): Expanded support options for serving women, ensuring they are aware of, and can access, help for issues specific to their needs.
Application closing date(s): Midday on Wednesday 25 June 2025 Awarded projects to start before: December 2025
Application form link: Apply to the Servicewomen programme
Terms and conditions to grant: Standard terms and conditions to grant
Will grant holders be required to use the Impact Hub? Yes
Background
The Trust released its three-year Covenant Funding Framework in April 2024. Their Framework, and the subsequent programmes, were developed based on insights from their public consultation; stakeholder meetings, which included representatives from the single Services; intelligence from sector research, policy papers.
This programme fits under the theme of ensuring our Armed Forces communities are not disadvantaged. It will be both preventative and improve access in relation to mental health & wellbeing. Ensuring that Servicewomen in the UK Armed Forces (including Reservists) have improved access to targeted support, to which they can self-refer, is crucial. It can aid in ensuring their mental and physical health and wellbeing, addressing any underlying issues unique to serving women, and enabling them to make informed decisions. and the Trust’s own programme evaluations and grant monitoring. The Trust’s Funding Framework is centred on enhancing quality of life, ensuring that Armed Forces communities are not disadvantaged, providing support to those requiring special consideration, and addressing complex needs by identifying effective solutions. Read more here.
Eligibility
They invite applications from:
- Registered charities
- Community Interest Companies (CICs)
- Armed Forces Units
There is more detailed information about eligibility in the programme guidance. It is important that you read the programme guidance carefully before you apply.
What’s available
You can apply for a grant of between £25,000 and £100,000 towards a project delivered over a period of two-years.
Eligible costs
The Trust will consider applications that include a reasonable contribution to overhead/core costs. They would expect to see this reflected within your budget breakdown. It is highly unlikely that they will fund projects with budgets that are dominated by capital costs. They would not expect to fund the costs of purchasing a vehicle, but they would pay for mileage costs on vehicles used by your staff and volunteers. Costs can include:
- Staff time including admin support, freelancers, sessional staff and appropriate clinical supervision workers.
- Travel costs (fares or mileage) for staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries.
- Capital purchases to support project such as at materials, sports equipment, laptops, etc.
- Reasonable overheads reflecting project delivery and taking into account rising costs.
Themes and priorities
They want to support projects that help towards enabling serving women to make informed choices and improve their access to services that enhance their wellbeing.
Your project will be expected to meet one of the four following outcomes:
- Serving women – either as a preventative measure or at times of crisis – can choose activities and/or find advice that reduces risk and negative impact to their wellbeing.
- Physical health support for servicewomen is enhanced through comprehensive initiatives that address their unique needs and are complementary to statutory services.
- Mental health and wellbeing support for servicewomen is strengthened through targeted initiatives that address their unique needs and are complementary to statutory services.
- Provision of comprehensive education on servicewomen’s health challenges – to inform accessible, effective, and long-term solutions.