Funding Local Causes

Grants of up to £500 for families in crisis

Application Deadline: Rolling

Started in 1996, Hertfordshire Children's Fund has been providing practical support to disadvantaged children aged 0-18 (aged 0-25 for children with disabilities) and their families in Hertfordshire by providing grants for household essentials such as washing machines, cookers and children’s beds to ensure they can keep their children healthy, safe and clean.

Whilst grants can be made up to £500, this fund is reserved for household essentials - such as children's beds and bedding, baby equipment and essential white goods - and therefore, the panel reserve the right to suggest alternative items to those requested. This is to ensure the longevity of the fund and enable us to continue supporting as many families as we can. Please do check the criteria below for items we will and will not fund before you make an application.

Applications must come from a worker or trained volunteer who is part of an organisation that is supporting the family or young person and is capable of assessing their needs. We cannot accept applications from individuals.

If the application is successful, the payment will be made to the organisation so they must be able and prepared to administer and supervise the grant on our behalf.

For example, applications are welcomed from those working for:

  • Hertfordshire County Council Social Services

  • Children’s Centres

  • Housing associations

  • Charitable and voluntary groups e.g. debt advice agencies, family support etc



Decisions are made on a rolling basis, and we try to respond with a decision within a month.

Please note, for security reasons we no longer accept paper applications.

GUIDANCE NOTES

Please ensure you have read the full guidance notes above before making an application.

APPLY HERE

Support the Fund

The Fund has built up a small endowment which allows us to make grants each year. However, it still relies heavily on donations from individuals, companies, and other supporters to meet the current demand for grants, which was around £134,000 in the last financial year. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested in supporting the Fund by making a donation or fundraising on our behalf, we’d love to hear from you!

Other places to find support

We are aware that many of the families seeking support through the Hertfordshire Children’s Fund need more help than we are able to provide. As a result we try to keep track of other sources of support or information that may be useful and share them here. If you know of any organisation or funding programme that may be useful to those applying to the Children’s Fund, please let us know and we’ll add it to the list below.

Funding:
  • Family Action (national) – www.family-action.org.uk
  • The Buttle Trust (national) – www.buttleuk.org
  • New Life Charity (national) - www.newlifecharity.co.uk
  • Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (national) - www.thebrightsideoflife.org.uk/
  • Turn2Us - www.turn2us.org.uk
  • Glasspool Charity Trust (national) - www.glasspool.org.uk/home/homepage
  • Hertfordshire Charity for Deprived Children (Countywide)- https://hertscfdc.wixsite.com/herts-charity-child
  • Wellfield Trust (Hatfield) - http://wellfieldtrust.co.uk/
  • Dacorum Community Trust (Dacorum) - www.dctrust.org.uk
  • Stevenage Community Trust (Stevenage) - http://stevenagecommunitytrust.org/
  • Harpenden Trust (Harpenden) - http://theharpendentrust.org.uk/
  • Charlie’s Gift (Herts, Beds, Bucks) - https://www.charliesgift.co.uk/
  • The James Marshall Foundation - https://www.jamesmarshallfoundation.co.uk/

    Additional Support:

  • Herts Help – www.hertsdirect.org/hertshelp or 0300 123 4044
  • Citizens Advice - Find your local one on www.citizensadvice.org.uk
  • Herts Frontline - Find details on local health and wellbeing support https://hertsfrontline.org.uk/
  • Foodbanks – details of local foodbanks are available on www.HertsDirect.org

    Second hand furniture:

  • Freecycle - http://uk.freecycle.org/
  • Gumtree - https://www.gumtree.com/
  • PreLoved - http://www.preloved.co.uk/
  • Emmaus - https://www.emmaus.org.uk/
  • Furniture ReUse Network – www.frn.org.uk
  • Spruce (Stevenage Furniture Re-use Scheme) - https://www.spruse.org.uk/aboutus/
  • Give a Dog a Bone (Broxbourne Furniture Re-use Scheme) - https://giveadogabone.org.uk/
  • Fresch (Welwyn Furniture Re-use Scheme) - https://www.fresch.org.uk/visit-our-store
  • Exchange (Bishop's Stortford Furniture Re-use Scheme with free local delivery) - https://stortfordbaptist.org/exchange
  • 9 Lives Furniture (Rickmansworth). Discount on furniture for those on means tested benefits. Can deliver items for a small fee. - https://www.9livesfurniture.org.uk/
  • WasteAware Reuse Shops (Hertfordshire County Council scheme. Shops in Harpenden, Stevenage, Ware, Garston & Welwyn Garden City). If you are a worker supporting a family, please contact us to find out about free reused furniture from WasteAware. - https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/recycling-waste-and-environment/recycling-and-waste/where-can-i-recycle/reuse.aspx

    School Uniform/Clothing:

  • Hand on Heart Trust (Free, preloved children's coats and winter clothing) - https://www.handonhearttrust.com/projects/back-to-school-backpack-campaign-aug-2022/
  • School In a Bag - https://www.schoolinabag.org/product/buy-one-fund-one/
  • Coats 4 Kids (Free, preloved children's coats and winter clothing) - https://www.1impossiblething.com/
  • Sports Shoes (Free, preloved sports shoes) - https://www.facebook.com/coats4kidsherts/


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