Religion & Worldviews Home Educators’ Fund

This fund is now closed

Are you home educating in the West Midlands region?

We are excited to announce the launch of a new, pilot ‘Religion and Worldviews Home Educators’ Fund’. If you’re a home educating family in the West Midlands region, you can apply for a small grant to support your children and young people to learn about different worldviews (religious and non-religious). It can help you explore, experiment with, or adapt your approach to religion & worldviews education.

The fund has been co-designed by a group of home educating families and three charities, All Saints Educational Trust, Culham St Gabriel’s and St Peter’s Saltley Trust. Funding for education is often directed to formal settings, while home educators often have little access to support or grants. We wanted to set up a new fund designed for and by the home education community, in the hope that it might pave the way for similar funds in the future.

Our grants fund is now closed for applications.

An introduction to the religion and worldviews home educators’ fund

What do we mean by religion and worldviews education?

“A worldview is a person’s way of understanding, experiencing and responding to the world. It is an approach to life.”
~ From the Commission on RE (2018)

By exploring religion and worldviews, children can develop an understanding and respect for the views and beliefs of others. They can find new ways to learn about their own identity and feel more confident in their ability to relate to others in a fast-changing world. Importantly, learning about religion and worldviews also encourages children to ask and explore the big questions in life.

Here is a video that you can watch with your children to learn more about religion and worldviews approach:

Nobody Stands Nowhere

What is your view of the world? What makes you who you are? This animated film, created by Theos Think Tank in partnership with Culham St Gabriel’s and Canterbury Christ Church University, unpacks the idea of worldviews and invites the viewer to consider how their own unique view of the world might co–exist with other, sometimes quite different, vantage points held by those around them.

How to apply in three easy steps

Before you get started, make sure you’re eligible:

✔ I am currently home educating

✔ I live in one of the following areas: Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Coventry and Warwickshire, or Worcestershire.

✔ I have a UK bank account

Step 1: Get creative

You can use the grant for activities that support children and young people’s educational understanding of worldviews (religious and non-religious). It can also help you to explore, experiment with, or adapt your approach to religion and worldviews education.

For inspiration check out this short video by Zephan and Jonah as they explored religion and worldviews in Coventry.

Title of the video. A view on the world is in white text on a blue background. The word world is written on top of a white drawing of earth.

Our community panel will be looking for projects that include some or all of the following criteria when deciding which projects to fund: Relevance, Creativity, Impact, Collaboration.

RELEVANCE: Fosters greater understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews among children and young people.

CREATIVITY: Develops new home education materials or experiences.

IMPACT: Has a positive impact on your home education journey, leading to improved understanding and long-term benefits.

COLLABORATION: Results in sharing or exchanging resources and ideas with the wider home education community.

To read more about the assessment criteria including what we can and can’t fund please look at our document Are we a good match? (this will open in a new window).

Step 2: Choose the amount you want to apply for

Our large grants fund (up to £1,500) is now closed for applications. Applications are still open for small grants of up to £200

Step 3: Apply by form or call

Applications for this fund are now closed

Apply through a short online form. We have provided an example application to help you (this will open as a pdf in a new window).

Apply through a short video or phone call with our fund facilitator, Julia Minnear. She will take you through the questions and transcribe your responses. Please allow plenty of time ahead of the closing date to arrange a call. Email julia@cstg.org.uk

If you have any barriers to accessing the application questions, would like to receive them in a different format, or if you need any support, please get in touch and we will be happy to help. Please email julia@cstg.org.uk or book a video call.

A note on privacy: We‘re aware that some people may feel uncomfortable sharing personal information or wonder what will happen to it. Any personal data you share with us will be kept strictly confidential to Culham St Gabriel’s. It will never be shared with any third parties, including local authorities or other government bodies. We take privacy very seriously. You can read our privacy policy here.

How it works

It’s all about learning!

Once your project is complete we will ask you to share an update on how it went and what you learnt. As this is a pilot project, we’re keen to learn as much as possible so that we can celebrate what worked well and understand what we can do differently next time.

Frequently asked questions

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions (these will open in new window)

If you’d like to chat through your project idea before applying, or if you have any questions or would like any other support to apply, please get in touch with Julia Minnear: julia@cstg.org.uk

Good luck!

Apply for the Home Educators' Fund