A parent holds a baby by a window so another, older child can meet them
Grants

Early Years Parenting Fund Investing in effective early years parenting support

This grant is now open

Investing in effective early years parenting support

The Early Years Parenting Fund will support organisations that improve the development of children most at risk of poor early childhood outcomes, by investing in effective, culturally grounded parenting support.

We want to support work that makes a clear contribution to children’s physical health, social and emotional development, and cognitive development in the first five years of life.

In this round, we’re focusing on communities where outcome gaps are largest. We aim to fund organisations that are trusted by the communities they serve and that can evidence the difference their work makes.

The Early Years Parenting Fund is part of our Getting Started funding priority, which supports families to give young children a strong start in life. In this fund, ‘parents’ includes any caregiver.

A parent holds a baby by a window so another, older child can meet them

Webinar

Watch the recording of our webinar

Watch the live recording of our webinar to learn more about the Early Years Parenting Fund.

Hear from the programme team who shared the thinking behind the fund, and our approach.

We answered questions about what we’re looking to fund, who’s eligible, and how to apply.

Fund launch webinar

Recorded 2nd June  2026, 11-12pm

Watch the recording Download slides

What we’re looking to fund

Your organisation will:

  • Work closely with parents with children aged newborn to five from Black (Caribbean or African, Any Other Black), Pakistani, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

and / or

  • Work with parents with children aged newborn to five living in areas ranked within the most deprived 20% nationally (using the relevant national deprivation index for the location of your work)

 

You will also:

  • Deliver parenting support that is trusted, culturally relevant and rooted in the communities you serve
  • Provide flexible, personalised support shaped by families’ lived realities
  • Demonstrate clear, published evidence of impact on at least one area of early childhood development (physical, social and emotional, or cognitive)
  • Show fidelity to evidence-based early childhood practice
  • Be willing to share learning to help improve wider early years practice and public sector delivery

Funding guidelines

  • Grant amount: £56,250 per year for four years (£225,000 total)
  • Length: Four years
  • Funding type: Flexible funding – grants can be used towards general running costs
  • Eligible organisations: charitable organisations registered in and working in the UK, including:
    • Registered charities and Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
    • Community Interest Companies (CICs) that are not-for-profit with an asset lock
    • Other not for profit charitable organisations delivering work aligned with our object
  • Annual income: Between £100,000 and £5 million (as shown in most recent published accounts)
  • Location: Activity must take place in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland)
  • Application opens: 3 June 2026, 9am
  • Expression of Interest deadline: 1 July 2026, 5pm
  • Full application deadline (by invitation): 21 August 2026, 5pm
Full funding guidelines

Application process

Applications will open on 3 June 2026, 9am.

You'll need to complete our short eligibility quiz before you apply.

Eligibility checker

How to apply

  • Complete our online eligibility quiz.
  • Submit an Expression of Interest by 1 July 2026 at 5pm.
  • We will contact you during the week of the 24 July 2026 to tell you whether you should submit a full application. If we decide not to invite you to apply, we will explain why in writing. We review hundreds of Expressions of Interest, so unfortunately, we cannot provide detailed feedback.
  • If invited, submit a full application by 21 August 2026 at 5pm.
  • Have a conversation with our team (24 August – 11 September 2026).
  • Receive a decision in October 2026.

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