Religion & Worldviews Home Educators’ Fund

Now open for applications!

Are you home educating in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire or the West Midlands region?

We’re excited to relaunch the Religion and Worldviews Home Educators’ Fund; a small grants programme designed for and by home educators. If you’re exploring how to support your children’s learning about different worldviews – religious and non-religious – this fund is for you.

This autumn apply for a grant to help you:

Explore different approaches to RE/religion and worldviews education
Create meaningful learning experiences that help your children engage with different beliefs, values, and ways of seeing the world
Try out new ideas or resources

This fund was co-designed by home educating families and three charities: All Saints Educational Trust, Culham St Gabriel’s, and  St Peter’s Saltley Trust in order to increase support for exploring quality RE in home ed settings

Applications are now open!

Hear more about the fund from one of our community panel members, Simone.

What do we mean by religion and worldviews education?

Religion and worldviews education helps children explore how people make sense of life and the world around them.

A religion is a shared set of beliefs, values and practices often connected to ideas about meaning, purpose or the divine.

A worldview is how someone understands and responds to the world. Everyone has a worldview, whether or not it’s religious.

By learning about different religions and worldviews, children can:

Understand and respect different beliefs and ways of life
Think about their own ideas and values
Ask big questions about life, meaning, and purpose
Feel more confident talking with people who see the world differently

Here is a video that you can watch as a family to learn more about religion and worldviews approach:

Nobody Stands Nowhere

This two minute animated film by Theos, made with Culham St Gabriel’s and Canterbury Christ Church University, introduces the idea of worldviews. It invites you to think about your own perspective and how it fits alongside the different views held by others.

Before you apply, 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, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire or Leicestershire.

✔️ I have a UK bank account

Step 1: Get creative!

The first step is to come up with a project idea. There’s no one right or wrong way to do it. You might start with a question your children are curious about, a topic you’ve been wanting to explore, or a creative activity you already enjoy.

Here are a few ways home educators have designed projects:

Using art, storytelling or drama to explore different beliefs and values
Planning visits to local places of worship or community organisations
Creating a mini research project, documentary or map
Comparing worldviews through books, walks, or family discussions

Your project can be simple or ambitious. What matters most is that it helps your children learn about religion and worldviews in a way that works for your family or home ed group.

Inspiration

Find out how Zephan and Jonah explored religion and worldviews in Coventry through this short film.
Read a sample application form with a project idea based on music
Learn about the projects that received funding last year.

Step 2: Choose the amount you want to apply for

Step 3: Apply by phone or by form

Apply through a short online form OR apply through a short video or phone call with our fund facilitator Julia. 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.

Fund criteria

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 improve understanding and long-term benefits.

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

What we’re unable to fund:

We welcome applications from families of all faiths and worldviews, but the fund isn’t designed to support projects that promote one belief as better or more ‘true’ than others, or that focus mainly on deepening personal faith. Instead, we’re looking for educational activities that help children explore a wide range of religions and worldviews, ask big questions, and think critically and respectfully about different perspectives.
We are not able to fund projects or activities that would take place outside of the United Kingdom.

To find out more, have a look at our guidance document ‘Are we a good match?’

How it works

It’s all about learning!

If you receive a grant we’ll ask you to share a short update on how things went and what you and your children learned . We may also ask for your feedback on the process on receiving grant because we want to celebrate what worked well and understand what could be even better next time.

You’ll also have the opportunity to join some informal support meetings with other home ed grant holders, to share ideas, talk through challenges, and learn from each other.

Got questions?

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

If you’d like to talk through your ideas before applying, or have other questions about the grants, please get in touch with our fund facilitator, Julia Minnear at  julia@cstg.org.uk—she’s happy to help.

Good luck!

Apply for the Home Educators' Fund