Comic Relief: Young People with Mental Health Problems

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.

They will fund work which meets the aim above and one or both of the outcomes below. There are two strands to the programme:

Services for young people

They are keen to fund a range of services and approaches to help young people experiencing mental health make positive changes in their lives. This could include individual counselling, group work or peer support. They especially welcome applications where support is provided in settings in which young people feel comfortable, and do not fear being labelled or stigmatised.

Training

They will also fund work that ensures those working with young people with mental health problems, especially in general youth work settings, have access to good quality training to improve their skill base and confidence levels.

Outcomes

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

• Increased access to appropriate services for young people with mental health problems, resulting in improved mental health.
• A greater understanding and specialist skill base amongst practitioners working with young people with mental health needs.

Comic Relief encourage applications from organisations working with young people aged 11-25 providing general counselling and therapeutic interventions, as well as specialist projects focused on particular issues such as eating disorders or bi-polar conditions.

They also welcome applications from organisations targeting particular sections of the community such as young homeless people or asylum seekers.

They are keen to look at innovative ways of supporting young people with mental health problems such as peer support and other young people-led approaches.

They are happy to support work taking place in general youth work settings as well as within specialist services. All work however must target young people with mental health problems.

They will also fund specialist mental health training for staff working with this group of young people.

Comic Relief recognise the importance of strong local partnerships between voluntary and statutory agencies in delivering effective services to young people with mental health problems. They know that, in practice, this means that agencies from these different sectors may be sharing resources and working together on specific projects. They are interested in hearing how you work within the local strategies on young people and mental health and how their funds can help you achieve the best possible outcomes in this complex funding environment.