Comic Relief: Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Young People

Overview

Comic Relief receive many more applications than they are able to fund and usually only support work which fits our current priorities, so before you apply for funding, please read through all the Essential Information carefully.

Comic Relief accept applications from the voluntary and community sector throughout the UK including: constituted voluntary and community groups, charities, social enterprises, co-operatives, faith organisations, and community interest companies.

Comic Relief make grants in the programme areas outlined. You can make only one application to one programme at a time.

Comic Relief fund work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and are very keen to make sure that Comic Relief reach all parts of the UK, especially areas which often miss out, such as rural communities. Comic Relief usually make grants for between one and three years.

Comic Relief can give grants for running costs and capital costs. However, they give building costs a very low priority, and only fund these in exceptional circumstances. Comic Relief do not fund capital costs where they are part of a much larger appeal.

They usually make grants to cover project costs, but Comic Relief recognise that you may wish to include a contribution towards your organisational costs so that it reflects the true cost of running your project. This is sometimes known as full cost recovery.

Comic Relief can pay for all or some of your project costs, but they encourage you to get some of your funding from other sources if you can. There is no minimum or maximum grant in most of their programmes, but where there are limits, these are clearly stated in the programme guidelines. Their grants on average vary between £25,000 and £40,000 per year, and rarely exceed this upper limit.

Comic Relief are unlikely to make large grants to very small organisations, and they will not usually fund all the costs of an application made by charities with an annual income over £10 million. These charities will be expected to make a contribution themselves or secure other income towards the costs of the project.

If your work is regional, national or provides a model that could be widely replicated, they may be able to fund at a higher level. Please call Comic Relief to discuss this before you submit an application.

Comic Relief will fund work which addresses the above aim and one or more of the outcomes below.

They are especially keen to help young people find routes out of prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, but they know for some this is difficult and will take time.

They will therefore fund work which meets both immediate and longer term needs. They recognise that this remains a growing field of work, so if you have an innovative project that you feel addresses the overall aim rather than one of the outcomes below, please contact them for discussion as they may be interested in supporting your work.

Outcomes

The organisations they fund will need to show how their work will help deliver one or more of the following outcomes:

• Fewer young people will be sexually exploited or trafficked
• More sexually exploited and/or trafficked young people and those at risk will know their rights, understand their situation and/or have access to the help and support they need
• More sexually exploited and/or trafficked young people will have increased choice to make positive decisions about their futures

Comic Relief welcome applications from a range of organisations supporting young people aged 11-25 – some set up specifically to support sexually exploited young people and those at risk; others with a wider young people’s brief who want to target this group.

They will also support other organisations working around sexual exploitation or trafficking who want to address young people’s needs; or projects in other fields whose work includes these young people at risk, such as housing.

They recognise we need to be flexible around the age range of people supported. Some young people, for example, young men and some trafficked young people, may not come to the attention of professionals or realise their situation themselves until they are ‘older’. Therefore, although they expect that most of the services they fund will be aimed at younger people they will consider supporting projects working with those over the age of 25 where the case for need is made.