[WiLT] Ragdoll Foundation - apply by 28th August 2007

[WiL Admin]

Ragdoll Foundation

The primary purpose of the Ragdoll Foundation is to make grants for
charitable purposes around the world that:
* Promote the development of children through their imaginative
thinking;
* Encourage innovative thinking and influence good practice elsewhere;
* Offer creative solutions that deal with the causes of problems in
childhood;
* Ensures effective evaluation of projects to promote sharing and
learning;
* Above all demonstrate how the voices of children can be heard.

Preference will be given to innovative projects that share the same
values of imagination and creativity as the Ragdoll Foundation. In
particular, those projects which show a true understanding of how to
listen to children and allow the voices of children themselves to be
heard. They will focus mainly on applications which involve children
during their early years, but appropriate projects for older children
will not be dismissed without consideration.

NB: As a modestly sized Foundation they are always oversubscribed and
are only able to fund about 5% of all applications. They are focusing
their funding on pilot innovative arts projects working with hard to
reach children at the moment. Grants will also be made to projects,
organisations or individuals through personal recommendation or
knowledge of those connected with Ragdoll Foundation. The Trustees
wish to make a range of grants available. They will consider a large
scale grant, but it is anticipated that the majority will range from
£500 upwards. Foundations can be truly innovative when they retain a
capicity for thinking and working outside the box. In order to achieve
this they have re-structured the application and monitoring process.
They have replaced it with a process that they hope will encourage new
ways of thinking and working. They aim to develop and establish
governance models that treat innovation as a process.

Stage One: There is no standard application, all they ask in the first
instance is an inspirational paragraph (one page maximum) and for you
to complete the contact form enclosed explaining the project or idea.
Please include your contact details, organisations's aims and how this
project fits in with your organisation. Your application needs to
include an indication of costs including income, expenditure and other
funders/partners involved. They would like very much to decrease the
amount of paperwork and would, therefore, encourage initial
application by email to Karen Newell. However, if this is not possible
please send it to their postal address below.

Stage Two: If your project falls within the overall criteria of the
Foundation they may contact you to discuss the project in more detail.
They would then ask you to work up a fuller project/application for
discussion at the next Trustee meeting, exploring options along the
way.

Stage three: They prefer to progress matters steadily, giving time for
full and thorough consideration which may involve further consultation
and visits. Please note that the Foundation's budget is modest, they
receive more applications then they can fund and, for example, at the
last meeting only 5% of the applications received were successful.

Projects are currently taking between 3 - 6 months to fund. It is
intended that the Trustees will meet 2 or 3 times a year to review
full grant applications. Applications should be submitted at least 6
weeks before each meeting.

Next submission deadline: 28th August 2007
Next Meeting: 19th October 2007

Ragdoll Foundation, Timothy's Bridge Road, Stratford Upon Avon,
Warwickshire, CV37 9NQ
Tel: 01789 404100
Mobile: 07977 916969
Email: KarenN at ragdollfoundation.org.uk
Web: http://www.ragdollfoundation.org.uk

Posted on WiLT blog at
http://www.freecharity.org.uk/~womeninlondon/?p=390