Henry Smith Foundation Launches New Together We Begin Fund for UK

The Henry Smith Charity changed its name to the Henry Smith Foundation in June 2025 and published it new strategy, Elevate Your Impact (2025-2030), which ‘reaffirms its commitment to the people and organisations driving change across the UK’.

The Together We Begin fund is part of the Foundation’s Getting Started funding priority, which supports families to give young children the best possible start in life. The key aims of the fund are to:

  • Strengthen parenting skills to improve children’s outcomes.
  • Build confidence and reduce stress in the home.
  • Connect families to their local community.

The funding is for formally registered not-for-profit organisations with a charitable purpose working in the UK with an annual income below £1 million who:

  • Support families with children aged 0-5 (including during pregnancy) who face financial hardship or social isolation.
  • Work in areas with high levels of child poverty – at least 24.9% of children live in poverty in their local authority area.

Grants of between £40,000 and £50,000 per year for up to three years are available (a maximum total of £150,000). It is expected that 40 grants will be made. Accessibility support grants are also available to help cover costs such as BSL interpreters, scribes, translation services, assistive technology, or support workers: £250 at the Expression of Interest stage and £500 at the Full Application stage (if invited).

Expressions of Interest close 28 August 2025 (17:00).

For more information: https://henrysmith.foundation/grants/together-we-begin/

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You will receive a VAC Member welcome pack with useful information on getting the most out of your membership and a few extra treats!

Every member of VAC will be invited to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and has voting rights for resolutions and proposals either in person or by proxy.

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To support VAC members to feel connected and informed, we have created a unique Member Area on the VAC Website.

The online dashboard will keep you and your colleagues up to date on the latest member opportunities, training and news.

The Member Area also has a forum function, allowing VAC Member organisations to interact and support each other.

A quarterly newsletter to keep our members up to date on not only VAC Membership updates and opportunities but also specifically created content on topics of interest to the local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. 

The Bimonthly Member Network is for VAC Members to connect with other VAC Members!

A perfect opportunity to support one another, find out about other local services and explore new collaborative opportunities and partnerships with fellow VAC members.

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Based on feedback and insight we gain from our members, our training and events offer will complement local infrastructure support training programmes.

All sessions are cost effective and VCSE sector driven.