CHARITY GRANTS

We partner with charities who share our passion for improving outcomes for babies during the 1,001 critical days.

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Person undergoing an ultrasound exam of their abdomen in a medical setting.
Children's toys on beige tiled floor, including a yellow chair, pink bowl, small teal and pink toy medical kit, and a pink spoon.
A woman with long brown hair holding three ultrasound images of a baby in the womb, with a light blue wall decorated with star-shaped ornaments in the background.

OUR CHARITY PARTNERS

  • Logo with a stylized white line drawing of a mother's face and baby on a blue background, along with the text 'OXP' and 'Oxford Parent Infant Project' in blue.

    The Oxford Parent Infant Project

    Based in Oxfordshire, OXPIP offers specialist parent-infant psychotherapy to strengthen the bond between parents and babies, supporting families facing trauma, postnatal depression, or disrupted attachment.

  • Colorful logo with circles and the words "For baby's sake" and "break the cycle".

    The For Baby's Sake Trust

    The For Baby’s Sake Trust provides parents with trauma-informed, therapeutic support to break the cycle of domestic abuse and give their baby the best start in life.

  • Graphic with a stylized black illustration of a bearded man's face and hair, and a child's face in a circle, with the text 'DAD MATTERS' in black and orange letters on the left. On the right, purple and orange text reads 'Powered by HOME START' with a stylized figure incorporated into the design.

    Dad Matters, powered by Home-Start UK

    Home-Start UK is receiving funding to establish the Dad Matters programme nationally, supporting fathers during the 1,001 critical days of their parenting journey. The programme offers tailored outreach services and drop-in sessions, supporting babies by supporting dads to build strong, fulfilling relationships with their families.

  • Logo of Literacy Volunteers featuring an open book with green pages and blue outlines.

    Literacy Volunteers

    Nottinghamshire-based Literacy Volunteers delivers early language and literacy programmes in deprived communities, helping babies and young children build confidence, communication skills and a love of books alongside their parents.

  • Green background with white text stating 'thrive at five' and a curved line resembling a smiling face underneath.

    Thrive at Five

    Thrive at Five is a national charity working to improve outcomes for children under five. Our grant is helping them to pilot Video Interaction Guidance at a universal level, with the goal of improving parent-child interaction and school readiness.

  • Logo for 'Home Start Stepping Stones North Edinburgh,' supporting young parents, with colorful stylized figures of adults and children.

    Home-Start Edinburgh and Stepping Stones North Edinburgh

    Joint recipients of grant funding, Home-Start Edinburgh and Stepping Stones North Edinburgh have formed a partnership to offer support through a programme called Bump Start. Bump Start will provide holistic, relationship-based support from pregnancy throughout early childhood with the aim of reducing isolation and improving parental confidence and mental health.

  • Logo for 'Nurture the Borders' with line art of a woman and child, and pastel-colored abstract shapes.

    Nurture the Borders

    Based in the Scottish Borders, Nurture the Borders offers specialist early relationship support to help parents and carers build safe, secure and nurturing relationships with their babies, providing therapeutic, outreach and peer support for families during pregnancy and the first two years.

  • Parents 1st UK charity logo

    Parents 1st UK

    Parents 1st UK provides trusted peer support for young parents, helping them build confidence, strengthen bonding with their babies and access practical, non-judgemental support through one-to-one and group sessions during pregnancy and the first year.

  • PEEK charity logo

    PEEK

    PEEK provides free, community-based early years wellbeing support for expectant parents and families with babies, helping them build confidence, strengthen early relationships and access trusted play, outreach and one-to-one support during pregnancy and the first two years.

  • The Sleep Charity Logo

    The Sleep Charity

    The Sleep Charity works with Doncaster Family Hubs to help families build calm, nurturing bedtime routines, combining healthy sleep, early language and parent-baby connection through practical guidance and group support during the 1,001 days.

  • Trelya Charity Logo

    Trelya

    Based in Penzance, Cornwall, Trelya provides family-centred infant feeding and early nutrition support, helping parents and carers build confidence, strengthen attachment and respond to their babies' cues through practical support.

  • The image has a dark purple background with the words 'HOME & START' and 'CYMRU' written in large white letters. The word 'and' is written in orange and is stylized as an ampersand.

    Home Start Cymru

    Home-Start Cymru offers early communication support for babies and families, helping parents build confidence and respond to their babies' communication cues through home visits, parent and baby groups, and peer support.

  • Simple digital drawing of three smiling green rocks stacked vertically on a black background.

    Heads Up Leicester

    Heads Up Leicester provides therapeutic playgroups for babies and their parents and carers, helping families strengthen parent-infant relationships, support early development and build confidence through relationship-based support.

Family of three smiling and hugging outdoors, holding a plush dog toy.

OUR CHARITY GRANT PROGRAMME

CURRENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Across two funding rounds we have now awarded £3.5m in multi-year grants to 13 charities working to improve outcomes for babies across the UK.

Our charity partners are delivering a diverse range of support for babies, parents and carers, including work focused on infant feeding, parent-infant relationships, perinatal mental health, support for dads and non-birthing partners, and support for families and communities experiencing disadvantage.

Our grant-making for the rest of 2026 will focus on awarding strategic funding to charities and NGOs working internationally. 

This means we will not have another open funding round in 2026.

We’re currently developing our longer-term strategy around our Charity Grants. We'll share more about this in early 2027. 

A man with dark hair and beard holding a baby on the beach during daytime, with ocean waves and cloudy sky in the background.

Our Charity Grants support organisations delivering work that improves outcomes for babies during the 1,001 critical days - from pregnancy to the age of two.

We believe that supporting babies means supporting the people and communities around them. Our grant partners work across a range of areas, reflecting the different ways babies and families may need support during this critical period.

Our funding has supported work including:

  • Infant feeding support

  • Parenting programmes

  • Parent-infant relationship support

  • Perinatal mental health support

  • Support for dads, carers and non-birthing partners

  • Support for communities experiencing marginalisation or discrimination

Our grants are designed to support organisations to deliver meaningful, measurable improvements for babies and families.

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Our Evaluation Partner for Charity Grants

ECORYS logo with a blue pyramid-shaped icon and the text 'Answering customer challenges today' beside it.

We've appointed Ecorys UK as the independent evaluation partner for our charity grants programme. Over the lifetime of each grant, they will work closely with all of our charity partners to gather evidence, assess outcomes and measure the impact of their work.

This independent evaluation will help us understand what is making the greatest difference for babies and families in their local communities, strengthen the evidence base for early years support, and demonstrate the value of investing in the 1,001 critical days.

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  • “Over the past two decades, the importance of the 1001 Critical Days has been widely acknowledged. However, there is still a ‘baby blindspot’ in many children’s services and there is an urgent need for more research that demonstrates ‘what works’ in a cost-effective way. The 1001 Critical Days Foundation will provide funding for services and research that will shine a spotlight on ways in which to improve outcomes for all babies.”

    — Professor Jane Barlow, University of Oxford

  • “The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme has made a real and lasting difference to babies and their families here in Hull. It’s enabled us to create a welcoming space for every parent and baby, while also providing tailored support to those who need a little extra help. The programme really is helping us to support parents to give their babies the best start for life.”

    — Hull Family Hubs

  • “The work of the Charity is much needed, and I wish it every possible success.”

    — Sir John Major