The Energiser Fund aims to celebrate and energise creative practice with 2-4-year-olds. Centring children’s voices, views and lived experience, the fund will explore co-design and participation in creative projects for early years.

The fund will give up to 10 organisations a three-year grant to deliver creative programmes with 2-4-year-olds. Organisations will come together to network and reflect throughout the three years, in a bespoke learning programme.

What will an Energiser Funded Partner get?

  • A 3-year grant worth up to £120,000.
  • The Energiser Learning Community; a carefully curated programme of online and in-person workshops, reflection sessions and mentoring.
  • Communications and advocacy strategy and support from Youth Music.
energiser fund flyer

An Energiser Fund funded partner could be:

  • A theatre company that specialises in work for early years. 
  • A maintained nursery school that centres creativity in their curriculum.
  • A small CIC comprising freelancers delivering music and movement projects with 2-4-year-olds in a variety of community settings.
  • A museum or library that programmes literature and art activities for 0-5s and their families.

Going Beyond Music

The Energiser fund will support a range of creative activities, and each programme should work across more than one art form. This is Youth Music’s first fund investing in more than music. Research for Arts Council England’s Let’s Create Strategy indicated that children see creativity in broad terms, not limited to specific art forms. They have asked us to respond to that in delivering our National Lottery programme. 

What does Youth Music want to achieve?

Ultimately, we want to bring about change in early years creativity. To generate excitement, greater understanding and more equity for an age group that’s often marginalised and underestimated.

We’re particularly keen to explore co-design and participation with young children. Thinking about how we do it, what good looks like, what happens when we do it and what we can learn from co-designing creative activities with 2-4-year-olds. The 10 organisations awarded a grant will be partnering with Youth Music to explore this.

When?
Funding will be for three years, from September 2024 until September 2027. Planning will take place September 2024 to December 2024. Delivery will then begin in January 2025.

APPLICATION GUIDANCE
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Adult and baby playing a guitar
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Energiser Fund - How we made decisions

We explain how we made the decisions on grants for our Energiser Fund projects.

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Energiser Fund - Frequently Asked Questions

This page has Frequently Asked Questions about the Energiser Fund.

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Energiser Fund Programme Examples

These are some examples of programmes that could be supported by Youth Music through the Energiser Fund.

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