The Henry Smith Foundation: Holiday Grants for Children
Overview
Overview
The Holiday Grants Programme offers one-off grants for schools, youth groups and non-profit organisations to take children aged 13 and under on recreational day trips or short residential trips.
They know that memorable experiences can have a lasting impact, boosting wellbeing, building confidence, and offering a break from daily pressures. This programme helps provide these opportunities for children who face financial hardship, systemic inequity or disability.
They prioritise groups supporting disabled children and those with limited access to funds to go on holiday. In 2024, 60% of grants went to organisations working in the UK’s most deprived areas. Funding - £500 - £2,750 per trip
Summary
| Grant amount | £500 – £2,750 per trip |
| Trip length | A day trip or residential trips of up to 7 days |
| Funding covers | One-off recreational trips (e.g. camping, adventure activities, seaside visits). No high-cost places, such as theme parks, musicals, sporting events, or trips with educational or religious aims. |
| Community | The trip should be for children aged 13 and under. The trips are for children experiencing financial hardship, systemic inequity, or living in areas of high deprivation. They also consider applications for children with disabilities. |
| Location of work | Within the four nations of the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). |
| Eligible organisations | Schools, youth groups and UK-based non-profits |
| Deadlines/Decisions | At least 5 weeks before the trip date, see submission dates. Up to 5 weeks for a decision |
Who can go on the trip?
They only provide funding for trips with children aged 13 and under. They do not support trips for individuals or families, whether this is a single family or several families.
What is the aim of the trip?
The trips must be for fun, and they must not have any educational or religious aims.
They only provide grants for one-off trips. This means the trip must be a unique event and not part of your organisation's ongoing or regular activities. In other words, they do not fund trips that are part of your normal work.
When and where can you go on the trip?
- Trips can happen from the 13 of January to the 31 of December.
- They fund day trips and residential trips up to 7 days in length.
- The trip must be in the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland).
- They are less likely to fund trips that spend too much time travelling because the main focus should be on the children's experience.
- To be able to fund more applications, they want to fund low-cost trips. Because of this, they do not support trips to high-cost places such as theme parks, musicals, or sporting events.
- The average cost per child per day in 2024 was £64, but they cover higher costs for groups with children with disabilities to meet their access needs.
- They only fund one trip per application and do not accept applications for multiple trips
When do you need to apply
They open for applications three times a year and accept applications based on when the trip is happening:
| Date of the trip | Dates you can apply |
| 13 January – 30 April 2025 | 2 December 2024 –19 March 2025 |
| 1 May – 31 August 2025 | 20 March 2025 – 21 July 2025 |
| 1 September – 31 December 2025 | 22 July – 19 November 2025 |
- They recommend you apply early because they often close the application periods when all the funds for the period have been spent.
- They must receive your application five weeks before the trip's date. This ensures they have enough time to assess your application and decide.
- Decisions for applications submitted in December 2024 will not be received before January 2025.
Please note they have changed their approach to assessing safeguarding, please read the funding guidelines carefully and check their Safeguarding webpage to make sure your trip is eligible.