The Business & Education Alliance is the bid-ready conduit between funders and your classrooms. We secure grant funding and pool it with local business sponsorship and philanthropy — then your schools draw on it for the trips, equipment and experiences cost too often puts out of reach. No bid-writing for you. No child left out.
Both are entirely solvable — and solving them is the whole point of the BEA.
Most schools and trusts have no one with the time to find funders, write applications and manage the reporting. Good causes go unfunded simply because the bid never gets written. The BEA does that work for you.
Several of the largest funders — BBC Children in Need among them — fund not-for-profit organisations working with disadvantaged children, not mainstream schools directly. As a constituted not-for-profit, the BEA can be the eligible applicant and route that money to your pupils.
Five steps — and your only real job is the first one.
Tell us what you'd like to fund and the basic context — pupils on roll, FSM percentage, the need.
We map your need to the right grant streams, business sponsors and philanthropic gifts.
The BEA writes and submits the applications and brokers the sponsorship — the heavy lifting is ours.
Secured funds are released to the school for the agreed activity, from a fund you can bid into.
You get a report that evidences the spend — and satisfies funder and sponsor requirements.
Children's needs span far more than sport. Each area below has live funding routes the BEA can pursue on your behalf.
Day visits, cultural and museum trips, outdoor and adventure residentials, and the transport that quietly sinks most trip budgets.
Team strips and kit, balls, goalposts, equipment, coaching and access to clubs — not just facilities.
Instruments, instrumental and vocal tuition, and ensembles — the area where the access gap is widest.
Drama, dance, visual art materials, equipment and performance or exhibition opportunities.
The activity proven to be most equitable — plus holiday provision that tackles the "holiday experience gap".
Outdoor learning, Duke of Edinburgh access, SEND-appropriate enrichment, and hardship items such as uniform, kit or a warm coat.
A working summary for the person who'll be asked "where's the money coming from?". The eligibility column is the part most schools get caught out by.
| Funder / stream | Indicative award | Who's eligible | What it suits — and the BEA's role |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Children in Need | Up to £40k / yr (1–3 yrs) | Not-for-profits & special schools that are registered charities, working with disadvantaged under-18s | Wellbeing, inclusion, the primary-to-secondary transition. Mainstream schools usually need a not-for-profit partner — the BEA can be that applicant. |
| National Lottery Community Fund — Awards for All | £300 – £20,000 (up to 2 yrs) | Schools and community / not-for-profit groups | Clubs, enrichment, cost-of-living projects. Prioritises evidenced need and smaller-income groups. |
| National Lottery — Reaching Communities | £10,000+ (up to 5 yrs) | Voluntary & community organisations, social enterprises | Larger, multi-year programmes. The BEA can hold and deliver these at chapter level. |
| Football Foundation | Up to £25,000 | Grassroots clubs, community sport orgs, educational establishments (for some items) | Kit, goalposts, balls, equipment, facilities. Match funding sometimes required. |
| Sport England & governing bodies (ECB, etc.) | Varies | Clubs, schools, community organisations | Equipment, coaching and participation through sport-specific routes. |
| DfE Music Hubs / Young Sounds UK | In-kind | Schools via the local Music Hub; targeted at deprived areas | Free or subsidised instrumental and vocal tuition, instruments and ensembles. |
| DfE PE & Sport Premium | Annual allocation | All primary schools | Can fund extracurricular sport and even outdoor residentials — frequently underused. |
| Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) | LA-administered | Providers working with FSM-eligible children | Holiday clubs combining activity, enrichment and food. |
| Trip & residential trusts (Jack Petchey, Henry Smith, Ernest Cook, Great British School Trip, BlueSpark) | £500 – £2,750+ per trip | Schools / youth groups; many prioritise high-FSM or deprivation | Day and residential trips, outdoor learning, cultural visits, transport. |
| Local business & philanthropy — the BEA Fund | Pooled / ongoing | Schools within BEA chapters | Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorships and philanthropic gifts pooled into a fund your schools bid into. |
Award levels and eligibility change over time and by nation; the BEA confirms current criteria with each funder before bidding. Figures are indicative, drawn from the funders' published guidance.
The evidence school leaders can put in front of a board, a funder or an Ofsted inspector judging personal development.
Children from the wealthiest homes are around three times more likely to access out-of-school music than the poorest, with a ~20% participation gap in sport.
Social Mobility Commission, "An Unequal Playing Field"By age 11, just 6% of disadvantaged children received family-paid music lessons, against 26% of more affluent peers.
Centre for Longitudinal Studies / Nuffield FoundationDisadvantaged pupils who attended after-school clubs scored measurably higher at the end of primary — narrowing the attainment gap.
Centre for Longitudinal StudiesTwo minutes now; the BEA takes it from there. Suitable for a single school or a whole trust.
This opens a pre-filled email to info@thebea.org so you can review and send. Prefer to talk first? Email us directly and we'll arrange a call.
Your contribution is pooled into a fund that reaches schools across your community — with full visibility of the impact. This is how local prosperity reaches local classrooms.
No. The BEA is a not-for-profit, funded by business sponsorship and philanthropy. Registering a need and having us bid on your behalf is free to the school or trust. Funds secured are passed to you to spend on the agreed activity.
Both. A MAT can register centrally and we'll work across its schools, or an individual school can register alone. Registering at trust level often strengthens bids, because funders value reach and a single accountable partner.
Very little. You tell us what you want to fund and the basic context; the BEA identifies the streams, writes and submits the applications, and handles the reporting. That lack of capacity is the barrier we exist to remove.
Several major funders — BBC Children in Need among them — primarily fund not-for-profit organisations working with disadvantaged children rather than mainstream schools. As a constituted not-for-profit, the BEA can be the eligible applicant and channel that funding to your pupils.
Business and philanthropic contributions are pooled into a transparent fund with clear governance. Spending is tied to agreed activities, every partnership has a due-diligence check, and each school receives an impact report that also satisfies funder and sponsor requirements.
It varies by stream. Local business sponsorship and philanthropy can move quickly; national grant programmes run on their own assessment timetables, often several weeks to a few months. We're transparent about timescales when we scope your need.