The 1001 Critical Days Foundation celebrates milestone with £1m in grants for babies and families
17 SEPTEMBER 2025
The 1001 Critical Days Foundation has awarded its first £1m in grants to charities supporting babies and families across the country.
Following a rigorous application process, six charities have been awarded a combined total of £1m in multi-year funding to deliver frontline services to families in community-based family hubs or similar settings. Up to 1,800 babies and their families are expected to benefit from this support.
Founder of the 1001 Critical Days Foundation and Executive Chair of the Trustees, the Rt Hon Dame Andrea Leadsom said:
“This is an incredibly proud moment for the 1001 Critical Days Foundation. These are our very first grant awards, and each of the six charities chosen has shown outstanding commitment to supporting babies and their families. Their applications were impressive, their impact is tangible, and I cannot wait to see the difference they will make in communities across the country. Together, we are determined that every baby should experience the best start in life.”
Speaking at the recent launch of the Foundation, its Patron, Lord David Blunkett, highlighted the integral role played by community-based charities. Lord Blunkett said:
“We’re not talking about professionals coming in and offering support – important as this is. But rather, mobilising the talent and strength of the community, no matter how deprived, to become part of the solution, not the problem.”
The six charities awarded funding represent geographies across the whole of the UK and offer a full spectrum of services to help give every baby the best start in life.
The six charities are:
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. They will use the grant funding to expand their “Learning to Love Books” programme in two family hubs based in communities where around 75% of families speak English as an additional language.
Mike Collis, Chair of Trustees, said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant, which will help us reach hundreds of babies and families in Nottingham’s most disadvantaged communities, nurturing early language, confidence and strong parent-child bonds.”
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.
Eliza Waye, CEO of Home-Start Edinburgh, said: “We know the time from conception onwards is critical. With this funding, we can extend our partnership to deliver Bump Start with Stepping Stones North Edinburgh and reach even more families.”
The For Baby’s Sake Trust
London-based charity, The For Baby’s Sake Trust, works with families to break the cycle of domestic abuse through long-term therapeutic, trauma-informed support, ensuring babies grow up in safe and nurturing environments.
Lauren Seager-Smith, CEO, said: “We are deeply grateful to the 1001 Critical Days Foundation for funding For Baby’s Sake and championing the vital role of Family Hubs. Every baby deserves to feel safe, loved and nurtured, and this funding enables us to reach families at the heart of communities.”
The Oxford Parent Infant Project (OXPIP)
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.
Dr Karen Bateson, the CEO of OXPIP, said: “This funding is transformational. It means we can help hundreds more families develop secure parent-infant relationships to help their children flourish now and throughout their lives.”
Thrive at Five
Thrive at Five is a national charity working to improve outcomes for children under five, ensuring they have the strong foundations needed for life and learning. As a place- based charity working with communities facing hardship, Thrive at Five has been working alongside families and partners in Stoke-on Trent for just under five years. They will be using their funding to roll-out a pilot for Video Interaction Guidance with the goal of improving school readiness and long-term outcomes.
Aida Cable, CEO, said: “Often evidence-based approaches to strengthening parent-infant relationships are highly targeted and restricted to a small number of families. With this funding, we'll be able to trial an innovative approach which enables many more local families and children to benefit from these tried and tested techniques. We are delighted to have the support of the Foundation for this potentially transformative work.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The 1001 Critical Days Foundation is a new charity, set up to transform the lives of babies by providing funding for charities delivering frontline support, commissioning international research into how best to support babies, and advocating for the importance of the 1001 critical days around the world. It is the only UK-based grant-giving charity exclusively dedicated to supporting babies.
The Foundation launched its first grants round in June 2025 and received 114 applications. One million pounds was pledged to support frontline charities and a further £1m was granted to Home-Start UK to roll-out Dad Matters nationally. A second round will open in Autumn 2025. Grants are multi-year, for up to five years, offering charities greater certainty about their future funding. The charity has also given two research grants. International grants are planned for the coming years.