Funding Project Touchline

Bringing Church and School Partnership to Life

Project Touchline is designed to be a gift from churches to schools—supporting children’s wellbeing, character, and sense of belonging through sport, mentoring, and values-based engagement. To make this possible, a range of funding streams can be drawn together. Many schools and churches find that blended funding is the most effective and sustainable approach.

🏫PE and Sport Premium (Primary Schools)

The PE and Sport Premium is often the most immediate and accessible funding source.

This government funding is provided to primary schools to:

  • Improve the quality of PE and sport
  • Increase participation and engagement
  • Develop staff confidence and skills
  • Promote active, healthy lifestyles

Why it fits Project Touchline

Project Touchline aligns strongly with the Sport Premium’s goals by:

  • Increasing participation in inclusive sport
  • Developing teamwork, resilience, and leadership
  • Supporting less active or disengaged pupils
  • Enhancing the confidence of school staff through partnership delivery

How it can be used

Schools may choose to use Sport Premium funding to:

  • Commission delivery of sessions
  • Support lunchtime or after-school provision
  • Invest in sustainable programmes that build long-term impact

👉 Many schools already use this funding creatively—Project Touchline can become part of that wider strategy.

🏡 Local Charitable Trusts & Community Foundations

Local funding is often the key to starting well.

Community Foundations

Across the UK, regional foundations (such as UK Community Foundations) distribute funding to projects that:

  • Support young people
  • Strengthen communities
  • Improve wellbeing and opportunity

These are particularly valuable because they:

  • Understand local context
  • Are open to church-school partnerships
  • Often fund pilot projects

Local Trusts and Grant-Makers

Many towns and counties have smaller charitable trusts that:

  • Prioritise local children and families
  • Support education and youth work
  • Are open to faith-based organisations where impact is clear

👉 These are often accessed through:

  • Local councils
  • Dioceses
  • Community foundation networks

✝️ Christian Grant-Making Trusts

A number of Christian funders are especially interested in churches engaging their communities in meaningful, outward-facing ways.

Key trusts include:

These organisations typically fund projects that:

  • Demonstrate Christian values in action
  • Build relationships beyond the church
  • Support young people and communities

Positioning matters

Successful applications clearly show that Project Touchline is:

  • A gift to the whole school community
  • Inclusive and accessible to all pupils
  • Rooted in service, not obligation

🌍 National Grant-Making Bodies

Larger funding organisations can support growth and long-term sustainability.

Examples include:

These funders look for projects that:

  • Improve wellbeing and life chances
  • Address inequality or disadvantage
  • Build strong community partnerships

👉 For Project Touchline, this is especially relevant when:

  • Expanding across multiple schools
  • Demonstrating measurable impact
  • Developing a replicable model

🔗 A Blended Funding Approach

The most effective model often brings together several sources:

  • School funding (PE and Sport Premium)
  • Local grants (community foundations and trusts)
  • Church and diocesan support
  • National or Christian funders

This approach:

  • Reduces reliance on a single source
  • Builds shared ownership between church and school
  • Enables both pilot projects and long-term growth

🎯 A Shared Investment in Young People

At its heart, funding Project Touchline is about investing in children and communities.

Through sport, relationship, and values, churches and schools together can:

  • Create spaces of belonging
  • Encourage positive choices
  • Support the whole child—physically, socially, and spiritually