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Innovation grant: short breaks for disabled children aged 5 to 8

We have an ongoing commitment to providing short breaks for disabled children, young people and their families and representatives in Kent. We are seeking grant bids for new or emerging community level programmes that will stimulate and enhance the availability of short breaks activities for children aged 5 to 8 years who have special educational needs and disabilities.

The focus of this grant programme is to commission imaginative and creative projects which aim to support families and carers in building positive, challenging, engaging and developmental experiences, while also allowing them to take a break to pursue other activities.

You must be trained and able to respond to a range of needs via your assessment process that will be in line with the eligibility criteria outlined in the application form.

To apply for the grant, you must be a provider who supports disabled children who:

  • have a disability or additional needs that mean they require support to participate in leisure and recreation activities
  • are aged between 5 to 8 years inclusive
  • live in the Kent County Council area.

Eligible providers may include:

  • registered charities
  • voluntary or community organisations
  • special schools
  • community interest companies
  • social enterprises.

You must also have the following policies and procedures in place:

  • Public liability insurance (£10 million)
  • Employer liability insurance (£5 million)
  • Professional indemnity insurance (£1 million)
  • Medical Malpractice (£5 million)
  • Motor vehicle insurance (if a vehicle is available to the project)
  • Safeguarding children policy and procedure
  • Complaints procedure
  • Health and safety policy or statement that includes a risk assessment
  • Equal opportunities policy or statement
  • Child sexual exploitation policy
  • Anti-radicalisation policy
  • Recruitment and selection policy or procedure
  • Enhanced DBS checks for staff and volunteers
  • Supervision and appraisal process
  • Induction programme for new staff and volunteers
  • Training programme for staff and volunteers that includes:
    • safeguarding
    • child sexual exploitation
    • anti-radicalisation.
  • Response to COVID-19 policy and risk assessments.

We have up to £68,000 of funding available for this innovation grant. Bids will be in the range of £500 to £10,000 per district. You can apply for multiple districts or a countywide offer. A service is considered countywide if it is available to disabled children and their families across Kent, rather than being based in a particular district.

We are offering grants for the financial period 1 October 2022  to 31 March 2023, with an option to extend for a further year to 31 March 2024.

Applications closed on 16 September 2022.

Read our grant prospectus (PDF, 151.4 KB) and application guidance (PDF, 456.5 KB).

After you apply

We'll let you know when we receive your application.

It will then be assessed by an appraisal panel.

Based on your application, and any further information you may have been asked to supply, the panel will make its recommendations to the Corporate Director for Children Young People and Education to inform a final decision.

We will then either:

  • offer you a grant
  • offer you a grant with some specific conditions
  • reject your application and explain why.