Funding // Project Grants

Eligibility

1.Culham St Gabriel’s has one priority: religion and worldviews education [1] as a school curriculum subject. All applicants will be asked to justify their project in terms of this priority.

Our understanding of religion and worldviews is aligned with the Religious Education Council’s Developing a Religion and Worldviews approach in Religious Education in England A Handbook for curriculum writers.

Culham St Gabriel’s advocates for the importance of religion and worldviews education because it prepares pupils for life in a complex world. It enables them to become free thinking, respectful, critical participants of public discourse, who can make academically well-informed judgements about important matters of religion and belief. To secure all types of funding applicants need to be able to demonstrate that they share this understanding.

Whilst Culham St Gabriel’s welcomes project grant applications from all those working in the field of religion and worldviews, in 2024-25, we are particularly interested in supporting projects which focus on:

  • interfaith/belief dialogue and promoting warmer community relations in schools and communities, including consideration of ‘the common good’
  • supporting and equipping religion and worldviews teachers who have other specialisms (TWOS)
  • supporting teachers and leaders from under-represented groups particularly those from UK Minority Ethnic or Global Majority Heritage backgrounds.

[1] By the phrase religion and worldviews education, we are including what is currently to referred in legislation as Religious Education in England, Religion Values and Ethics in Wales, Religious and Moral Education in Scotland and Religious Education in Northern Ireland.

2.Culham St Gabriel’s does not fund:

  • Projects or individuals based outside the United Kingdom
  • Building costs or ongoing running costs
  • Deficit reduction i.e. covering costs already incurred
  • Teaching equipment, day-to-day consumables or resources such as textbooks
  • Chaplaincy or collective worship
  • Religious or non-religious proselytising, relating to a particular worldview
  • External religious or community groups visiting schools to deliver single one-off lessons or events

3.All applicants are asked to explain how their project will align with and contribute to the vision and mission of Culham St Gabriel’s:

Culham St Gabriel’s vision is for broad-based, critical and reflective religion and worldviews education contributing to a well-informed, respectful and open society.

Culham St Gabriel’s works towards it vision by:

  • Increasing public understanding of religion and worldviews education
  • Engaging with, informing and influencing decision makers
  • Creating well-informed, empowered and influential educationalists
  • Establishing and building strategic and collaborative partnerships and networks
  • Commissioning and publishing focused and accessible research
  • Championing and developing inspired and well-resourced teaching and learning.

4.All applicants are asked to explain how their project aligns with one or more of Culham St Gabriel’s strategic objectives:

  • Promoting positive public perception and understanding of religion and worldviews education
  • Influencing governments’ policies in supporting a high-quality religion and worldviews education, including the implementation of a National Plan in England
  • Advocating for the importance of high-quality religion and worldviews education within the education world
  • Empowering the current and next generation of religion and worldviews education teachers and leaders
  • Fostering and nurturing collaborative partnerships within the religion and worldviews education community.

Please note that all applicants invited to submit a Stage 2 application are expected to have a recently reviewed safeguarding policy in place.

5.Culham St Gabriel’s places a particular emphasis on the importance of dissemination, collaboration and partnership, and is also interested to learn how a project can be helped to become self-sustaining.

6.Taking into account responses to the above four points, the Trustees will then evaluate your application using the following criteria:

Relevance – Does the project have a practical or policy application to rigorous, innovative teaching, curriculum enrichment or leadership in UK schools, related to a religion and worldviews education?

Capacity – Does the applicant individual or organisation have the knowledge, expertise, commitment and judgement to deliver the project? Is the application supported by two referees not connected to the project?

Collaboration – Does the proposal include plans for active collaboration with others within and/or outside the religion and worldviews community? Are there opportunities within the proposal for strategic partnerships between organisations/individuals?

Impact – Does the proposal include plans for the project to have positive impact on learning, teaching or policy? How well is this impact defined and prepared for? Will the proposed impact further Culham St Gabriel’s mission and support its strategy objectives?

Dissemination – Does the proposal include clear plans for spreading and embedding good practice in and beyond one institution? Do the plans include a strong commitment to collaboration, partnership and dissemination of excellence?

Value for money – Ought the funding to support the proposal be coming from local or central government, or from the applicant’s faith/belief community? Is the amount requested broken down into budgeted detail? Is the amount justifiable when compared with the number of teachers and/or learners affected?

Success and sustainability – Does the project have a clear definition of success? For corporate applications, can the project continue independently after funding?

7.Culham St Gabriel’s has an Open Access Journal Policy.

This means outputs which are not open access will not be able to be included in impact measures. Details are available in our Open Access Policy.

8.If your grant application is successful, then conditions will be applied to your award.

Conditions that are usually applied to all awards include:

  • Submission of a short progress report and an annual impact report each year
  • If the proposed project is not completed, the remainder of the award is to be returned to Culham St Gabriel’s
  • If the proposed project is not undertaken, the award is to be returned to Culham St Gabriel’s in full
  • The project is timed to complete by a given date
  • Culham St Gabriel’s should be informed of any other grant applications made and if you succeed in gaining any financial support from other sources, this must be declared immediately, and may lead to adjustment of the grant.

Examples of other conditions include the following:

  • If the proposal includes matched funding, Culham St Gabriel’s offer will be conditional on the applicant gaining the full remainder of the amount needed from other sources
  • An external evaluation of the project to be included
  • A Culham St Gabriel’s trustee or staff members to sit on a steering or advisory group
  • Any resources/reports from your project to acknowledge the support of Culham St Gabriel’s
  • Attendance at Culham St Gabriel’s Grantee events.