Experienced organisations and new partnerships are invited to express their interest in delivering Short Breaks sessions for disabled children and young people (between 5 and 18 years old) in Birmingham as part of Children’s Quarter Fit for All initiative.
Funding available
The Fit for All initiative will offer three levels of support to organisations with a track record and partnerships that can deliver sessions for eligible children and young people:
- ‘Short Break Clubs’ – funded at £30,000 to deliver at least 750 spaces with appropriate staff ratios through an ongoing club with regular sessions throughout all or a significant part of the year.
- ‘Mini-Clubs’ – funded at £10,000 to deliver at least 250 spaces through a club with regular sessions which may be seasonal or developing or, exceptionally, for a large event or short series of related events.
- ‘Pop-up Clubs’ – funded at £5,000 to deliver at least 125 spaces through a short series of related sessions focused on a particular activity or the development of a set of skills etc.
Who we want to reach
Eligible children and young people will have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities; and attend special school; have an EHCP; or have a recognised diagnosis and require targeted SEND support because of the impact of their needs. They may be experiencing an absence of appropriate provision and deteriorating personal and family circumstances. This can include SEND children and young people who are educated otherwise than at school or who are home educated; are, wholly or significantly, excluded from school or who are experiencing significant attendance difficulties at school.
Respite and innovation
As well as giving children and young people who are eligible access to enriching opportunities, Short Breaks funding will provide parents, primary carers and families with respite care. This will be the case in particular in respect of Short Break Clubs – which are likely to be existing and welcoming provisions with a settled venue and pattern of delivery; bringing together an existing membership of young people and serving an open, but established, network of families.
‘Mini Clubs’ are more likely to include some newer provisions or provisions that are developing including parent-led provisions, for example: we understand that some participants may need some parent/carer attendance. Mini-Clubs may not have settled groups of participants or existing networks of families they serve and that is welcomed because they may provide ways to develop new provisions. Respite is an essential outcome, but – depending on circumstances – can be staged, or shared across a wider range of participating families.
‘Pop Up Clubs’ will be exciting, new or occasional services including ones led by, and involving as partners, organisations which are not primarily or exclusively focused on serving disabled children and young people. We do not expect these clubs to have existing participants and networks of families. Respite remains an essential outcome, but we can look flexibly at how this is achieved, for example by clubs at which attendance by a responsible adult is necessary.
Non-profit
We will fund non-profit clubs. That includes clubs that are run by parent-led associations, charities, social enterprises, voluntary organisations and schools. Matching money to make clubs work can come from any legal source including charges to families that are widely affordable. Where parents are charged we would expect to see some arrangements in place to ensure that the club remains accessible, welcoming and inclusive and does not discriminate against children on the basis of family income.
Timescale
We are interested in funding activities to March 2027 and, in the case of some larger Short Breaks Clubs, up to March 2028. We anticipate that the majority of ‘Mini Clubs’ and ‘Pop Ups’ will take place during school Summer holidays and in the Autumn Term of 2026. We aim to be able to fund Clubs from Monday 20 July onwards.
Next steps
Organisations and partnerships should express their interest in providing a Club as part of the Fit for All initiative by sending an outline proposal to Paul at Children’s Quarter by 6pm on Monday 29 June 2026.
Your outline proposal should: give the name and contact details of an organisation and the person in it who is responsible for the proposal; list of any partners involved or supporting it; give (in less than 600 words) an outline of what you propose to provide, for how long and with what frequency, where, when and for whom; and outline (in less than 400 words) relevant track record and experience, other sources of funding you intend to use and – in the case of the larger Short Breaks Clubs – evidence (eg links to webpages, a report or third person testimonies) of the existing delivery that your Club will be based on.
Your outline proposal should be emailed to campaigns@childrensquarter.org and can take the form of a word document, spreadsheet, pdf or commonly used audio or video file (you can record it using the spoken word if you prefer – so long as you adhere to the word limit).