Community Foundation for NI: RTÉ Toy Show Appeal Impact Grants

Overview

The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal mission is: Inspired by children, we work to bring the magic of the Late Late Toy Show to every child in Ireland. By funding essential support, health, wellbeing, play and creativity we aim to change children’s lives for good.

Last year €4,000,000 raised and distributed in 134 grants to support more than 1.1 million children and their family members all across Ireland. Thanks to the continued generosity of the Irish public, this year the Appeal raised over €3,600,000 which will be distributed through two open grant rounds in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland:

The Community Grants Round
The Impact Grants Round

The Impact Grants Round

Children and family charities working at local, regional and national level can apply for a grant under one of the following thematic strands:

Addressing Essential Needs
Improving Health and Wellbeing
Creativity and Play

The Impact Grants Round will open on Monday 26th February 2024 and children and family charities with an annual income of more than £500,000 can apply for funding. Grants of £25,000 – £50,000 are available to eligible organisations, and applicants should apply for funding within these brackets. The grants call will close on Friday 22nd March 2024.

Organisations that are eligible to the Impact Grants Round

Eligible organisations must:

Be a child or family charity that regularly works with disadvantaged or vulnerable children from 0-18 years old. This includes:

Those at risk of poverty and facing consistent poverty
Those facing discrimination
Those with disabilities, life-limiting conditions and additional needs
Those facing and recovering from trauma

Be registered with the Charity Commission for NI.

Have an annual income of more than £500,000.

Have up to date and sufficient governing documents, annual accounts and child safeguarding policies.

Projects that are eligible to the Impact Grants Round

Eligible projects:

Must meet the objectives of your chosen strand, outlined below.
Must work with vulnerable or marginalised children and young people at a regional and/or national level.
Must create strong impact for the children who will benefit and the wider community.
Must employ models of best practice.
Should empower the children and young people who are benefiting from the programme.
May be a current programme that will be developed or upscaled with the funding, or a new innovative programme.
May be to continue a project funded in last year’s RTÉ Toy Show grant round.
Must start no earlier than June 2024 and run until the end of June 2025.

Note

Where multiple applications are received from the same charity, whether from a charity’s head office or their branches, none will be considered for assessment.

Meeting the objectives:

Children and family charities with an annual income of more than £500,000 may apply for £25,000 – £50,000 to one of the three strands:

Addressing Essential Needs
Improving Wellbeing
Creativity and Play

Within these strands, the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland has identified objectives that all successful projects will meet. Please choose one objective from those listed below.

Strand 1: Addressing Essential Needs

There are three aims of the Addressing Essential Needs strand. Applicants applying to this strand should choose one of the aims below that their project or programme will address:

Poverty

Increase the number of children facing poverty to receive preventative wrap around supports that empower children and their families alongside meeting their basic human needs.

Break the cycles of poverty by increasing the number of children accessing and remaining in high quality education and supporting models of best practice of alternative forms of education.

Safety

Protect and empower children and young people to be safe online and in their homes by providing high quality supports to those in danger or at risk.

Environment

Enable more children to have access to green, vibrant and healthy spaces by developing current or new green spaces for children to enjoy.

Strand 2: Improving Wellbeing

Mental Health

Improve the mental health of marginalised children and young people by increasing the number of children accessing high quality mental health programmes.

Physical Health

Empower more children and young people with disabilities and those who have life-limiting illnesses, through personal development programmes, assistive technology, education and employment.

Strand 3: Creativity and Play

Access to the Arts and Recreation

Ensure marginalised children and young people can benefit from the Arts and creative programmes by breaking down financial barriers and increasing access for those with disabilities or severe illnesses.

Increase the number of accessible recreational spaces, including green spaces, by developing existing or new spaces.

Additional Notes:

Projects may be to continue a current innovative programme or to start a new one.
Proposals to this fund can include the proportion of staff time costs specifically related to the project. This also includes new staff salaries required to increase service provision.
Applications can include small and large scale equipment or furniture that is relevant to the project.
Small scale development of buildings or outside spaces is eligible in the Impact Grants Round. Developing or constructing a new building or buying a building or land is not eligible.
Elements such as training and evaluation that ensure the success of the project are eligible.
Charities are encouraged to collaborate with other organisations as part of their work. There will be one lead applicant for this application who must be eligible, but this charity may collaborate with organisations who are not eligible or who may also put in their own application.

Priorities for this Round

They anticipate that this will be a very competitive grant round so proposals that meet all the priorities of this grant round will be prioritised for funding:

Projects that have a strongly justified need based on research or feedback.
Projects or programmes that show innovation.
Projects or programmes that are centered around prevention and early intervention.
Projects that have a strong impact on the wider community as well as upon the direct beneficiaries.
Projects that have the potential to be sustained beyond the life of this grant.
Proposals that include evaluation as part of the project and budget.
Projects that will include the voice and feedback of beneficiaries in its development.

Governance Documents:

When submitting the application, all organisations will be required to upload digital copies of the following governance documents.

The Constitution or Memorandum and Articles of Association

This must show the mission statement or main objects of the organisation, how any donations will be used and the winding up clause.
For the purposes of this grant round, children and/or families should be core or central to the charitable objectives.

A current list of your organisation’s board / committee members

A current bank account statement

This statement must be in the same name as your constitution.
The statement must clearly show the Account Name, Account Number, Sort Code.
The statement must be dated within the past three months.
If the bank statement is overdrawn, please provide an explanation as to why the account is overdrawn. The Foundation staff will then consider this explanation in line with our due diligence policies and procedures.

The organisation’s most recent signed annual accounts

Annual accounts should include unabridged financial statements for the year, or where relevant, a monthly profit and loss for the year.
All applicants must declare their organisation’s annual income on the application form, and this will be verified in your most recent annual accounts.
Charity’s income level is greater than £500,000 – You must have your accounts audited and this must be in compliance with Section 65(2) of the Charities Act.
Accounts should be from 2022 and must be signed.

A copy of your equality policy

A copy of your child protection and safeguarding policies

If you do not submit the correct governance documents, your application will not be considered for funding.

Reporting requirements:

All grantees will be required to submit a Progress and Outcome Report during the project. Progress reports will be due at the end of January 2025 and Outcome reports will be due in July 2025.

Where a project or budget change is required, approval from the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland must be sought ahead of time.

Track grant Notes