Find out if you’re eligible

What we are aiming to achieve

Buttle UK offer two different grants.

Chances for Children Grants: We award grants to of up to £2,400 for children and young people impacted by recent crisis to provide items and activities. They are designed to support a safe and nurturing place to develop and grow up in. But also help children and young people access activities that promote wellbeing and build support networks.

Their goal is to increase the capacity of children and young people to engage in education, as well as improve social and emotional wellbeing.

Support for Boarding Grants:

For more information on Support for Boarding grants and to see if you are eligible to make an application, please visit our boarding page

Who can apply to us?

We only accept applications from frontline professionals (e.g. a charity, housing association/support, school or public sector organisation), and who...

• have carried out at least one home visit
• have made a full assessment of the children’s / young person’s needs
• are working directly with the children / young person

If successful, the professional will need to manage the grant spend, upload receipts and complete an evaluation survey.

Families and young people can not apply directly to us.

Eligibility criteria for children and young people

Children and young people must meet all criteria:

• Be children or a young person aged 18 and under, if living with parent/carer, or 20 and under if living independently, with little or no support from their family
• Be accessing early, primary, secondary or post 16 education/training for a minimum of 12 hours per week
• Be living on a low income and experiencing financial hardship
• The children and young people have experienced a crisis that has recently had a significant and enduring impact on all three of the following:
• their social wellbeing
• their emotional wellbeing
• and their educational engagement
• The family or young person has recently taken action to improve their situation, are actively engaging with support and are moving on from the crisis

Who are Buttle UK unable to help?

• Children and young people where poverty is the main issue
• Where family separation is the only factor
• Where poor housing or homelessness is the main issue
• Looked After Children
• Children and young people who continue to be in crisis and at serious risk
• Children and young people living or normally residing outside of the UK
• Where the main reason is disability or ongoing serious illness of a child. Please see other funders such as Family Fund Disability Grants.
• Where the parent or carer’s long term health is or has been the main issue

Thinking about making an application?

You need to be a frontline professional, who has...

• registered on our application site
• have gained consent to make the application and share data from the parent /carer / young person
• a clear assessment of the emotional and educational needs of the children / young person
• information on the weekly financial / income details for parent /carer / young person

Grants are usually assessed within 5-7 working days, as long as all necessary information is provided

You can contact us for support, we are happy to help with any queries.

We fund holistic packages of support

The grants are up to £2,400 and could include, but are not limited to...

• items and activities to support learning and development such as laptops, books, wi-fi, educational toys, tuition, etc.
• social and leisure activities
• family activities
• items for children/young people’s bedrooms
• other household items that are not available from sources such as Emergency Essentials or Local Authority welfare schemes, etc.

For children who are unable to stay in their family home, we also fund boarding school fees. Find out more about our Support for Boarding grants.

Managing a grant

If an application is successful you will be asked to agree to our Grant Terms and Conditions, then...

• the grant will usually be awarded to you as a pre-paid card
• you need to supervise the grant spend and assist in purchasing the items for the family or young person in line with our terms and conditions
• you will need to upload all receipts to the Buttle UK website within 8 weeks of grant award
• you can only buy the items awarded
• you must not give the card to the family or young person!
• you will be asked to complete an evaluation survey after the grant is awarded

Any questions or grant changes - talk to your Grant Development Officer ASAP

Parents and carers

Parents and carers cannot apply for grants directly. Applications must be made by a professional support worker. To find out who can make the application on your behalf, please read the criteria for each of the grants.

Ready to apply?

If, having reviewed this information, you want to make a grant, then you can click on the Apply Now button to get started.

If we are not the right funder for the situation, please see this information on other funding that might be helpful.

Information for children and young people

Applications can only be made by support workers.

You may have a support worker already. This is someone who works for a statutory agency or charity, and who helps you in a professional capacity. They may be a health worker, a youth support worker, housing support officer, working at a school or college or in a similar role. Please ask them to look at our grant criteria.

Information for adults looking for help

Buttle UK supports children and young people. We do not offer help where there is no child or young person under 18 in the household, with the exception of young people aged up to 20 who live independently with little or no support from their family. All applications must be made by a professional support worker and meet our criteria.

Please see the information on other funding, that might be helpful.