Free Being Me Grant Application 2023 Guidelines
We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting grant proposals for the implementation of the new Free Being Me!
Free Being Me (FBM)
All around the world, young people – especially girls and young women – struggle with self-esteem as a result of low body confidence. They often lack body confidence because they are constantly told to achieve an impossibly ‘perfect’ look: society’s beauty standards. The impact of all this pressure has serious consequences on young people’s physical and mental health and holds them back from achieving their full potential. Free Being Me is an educational programme that promotes body confidence and a world free from appearance-related anxiety. It aims to support young people to recognise and challenge these global beauty pressures. The new activity packs use methodologies and activities that are scientifically proven to improve body confidence and self-esteem.
Action on Body Confidence (ABC)
The Action on Body Confidence is the advocacy component of the Free Being Me Programme. It is a tool for leaders and young people to deliver advocacy activities in various levels – local, national and even international. The new Action on Body Confidence Curriculum, which will be released in March 2023, aims to equip young people with knowledge and skills to help them navigate their advocacy adventure. They will identify the biggest body confidence issues in their community and plan a project that engages and influences decision-makers for change.
FBM/ABC Target Outcomes
The following four outcomes are expected to be achieved by the end of this phase, through the efforts of WAGGGS programme team, together with the MOs who will be benefiting from this Grant.
- Improved quality of skills development on FBM/ABC non-formal educational programme within the guiding movement to be delivered to children and young people.
- Children and young people have better body confidence and self-esteem (FBM)
- Children and young people are equipped to tackle body image pressures and advocating for change in their communities (ABC)
- The MOs and young people are actively engaged in advocacy for body confidence on local and international level.
For each of these outcomes, there is a set of defined outputs. Below are the relevant outputs that the MOs, through this grant, are expected to directly contribute to.
1.1 Guiding leaders and volunteers are trained on delivering FBM/ABC non-educational programme directly to children and young people
2.1. FBM curriculum is completed by children and young people, especially girls
2.2. FBM Community Actions (Take Action initiatives) on body image issues are implemented by children and young people
3.1. ABC curriculum is completed by children and young people, especially girls
3.2. Young women are trained on designing and leading their own advocacy campaigns (local and/or national)
3.3. Local/national advocacy campaigns for internet safety are launched.
4.1. MOs implemented advocacy campaigns in partnership with local Dove entities
What is the relationship between FBM and ABC?
Free Being Me primarily help young people to improve body confidence and self-esteem and encourages them to implement take action projects to improve the body confidence of others. Whereas the Action on Body Confidence equip young people with knowledge and skills on Advocacy – which is all about engaging decision-makers and people in position of power to address body confidence issues facing young people and make positive changes to the world around them. We highly recommend you conduct FBM first before moving to ABC.
The Free Being Me Global Fund
To support you to implement Free Being Me, grant applications for up to £5000 GBP can be submitted anytime between now and end of day (UK time) on 15 March 2023. The Free Being Me Global Fund is supported by Dove, through the global WAGGGS-Dove partnership. There are MOs that are funded directly by Dove Local Markets, and these MOs do not need apply for the FBM Global Fund.
Who is this fund for?
- WAGGGS Member Organisations (MOs)
- Groups of Member Organisations
- Component Associations (CAs) within a Member Organisation
If applying as a regional group of Member Organisations, the application will need to come from one lead MO on behalf of all MOs involved.
To be eligible for this fund MOs must:
- Be up to date on payment of fees to WAGGGS or have an agreed payment plan in place
- If you received FBM Funding in the previous phase or year, you are expected to reach the target to be eligible for this grant.
What is this fund for?
Free Being Me Fund aims to help reach more girls and boys with quality Free Being Me or Action on Body Confidence experiences by assisting with specific costs. You can apply for funding support to deliver either Free Being Me or Action on Body Confidence, or both!
Here are some examples of costs which could be funded (this list is not exhaustive). It is important to note however, that all activities and its corresponding budget should contribute to the achievement of the FBM/ABC results:
- Hire of training venue
- Printing Free Being Me / Action on Body Confidence activity packs
- Transport costs for volunteers to attend training
- Translating Free Being Me / Action on Body Confidence to your language
- Data Costs
- Licenced platforms for online training
- Launching events
- Advocacy campaigns
What is the timeline for applications and programme implementation?
All applications should be sent by the end of day (UK time) on 15 March 2023. Final decisions will be released before end of March and contract signing will commence by April. As funding is available on an annual basis, we encourage MOs to submit funding proposals with an implementation timeline of 1 year.
How to apply?
Fill out the attached Application Form. The level of detail submitted in this form will help us assess the funding application. Kindly submit your applications to [email protected] and [email protected].
When applying, please consider resources and opportunities you already have that you can contribute to rolling out Free Being Me or Action on Body Confidence in your MO (consider human resources, upcoming events already planned, as well as financial resources, etc.).
Note to applicants: FBM/ABC programme can be delivered to both girls and boys thus, MOs targeting both groups are welcome to apply.
When will you find out if you are successful?
The Free Being Me team aims to decide before end of March 2023. You may be asked for further information about your application. It is possible that you will be awarded a portion of the total funding applied for.
Decisions will be based on the following criteria:
- Clear project plan: MO has a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound plan.
- Realistic budget: There is a clear explanation on how the funds applied for are essential to delivering the project, and how the funds would enable the project to achieve its aims.
- Demonstrated commitment to the programme aims: The MO has a proven track record or has shown substantial interest in taking steps towards the programme results, relevant to body confidence and self-esteem.
- Mainstreaming Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) concepts: The MO has a clear outreach plan ensuring accessibility and equal opportunities to every girl and young woman.
- MO contribution: The MO is encouraged to show how it will contribute some of its own resources to the project (not necessarily financial, but also human resources) and use existing events and projects to promote and embed the programme within the organisation.
- MO benefit: The funding will help to build the capacity of the MO and contribute to their strategic plan. MOs should explain how the funded work will help to achieve the organisational objectives of their association.
- Innovation: The MO is encouraged to identify areas for innovations in the programme to reach more girls and young people.
- Social Impact: The MO considers social impact in its strategy and approach ensuring young people can lead social action projects on issues relevant to them locally and globally.
- Sustainability: The MO is encouraged to identify sustainability mechanisms such as exploring potential partnerships and collaboration with various government, non-government or corporate institutions, and advocacy activities that could contribute to the programme’s sustainability.
If your application is accepted, you will be asked to sign a grant agreement, after which WAGGGS will make a payment to your MO’s bank account. As part of the grant agreement and transfer of funds, your MO will be committed to the following:
- Using the funds granted solely for the purposes stipulated in the grant agreement.
- Delivering quarterly progress reports to WAGGGS as per the reporting template and timeline in the agreement.
- Providing WAGGGS with your organisation’s child protection or safeguarding policy. If you do not have this, you will be asked to work on developing one through the course of the project.
- Providing WAGGGS with your organization’s diversity and inclusion strategy. If you do not have this, you will be asked to work on developing one through the course of the project.
- Completing the WAGGGS Capacity Assessment Tool (if not done yet).
What is different about FBM Phase 3?
We have created a new, more representative, and interactive version of Free Being Me. This means the learning journeys for all age groups have been updated – and additional activity pack for those aged 15 years and older created. We have also designed Free Being Me in a way that can be adapted to local contexts and delivered to co-educational groups of 20-30 young people, in person or online, at camps, events and in rural areas. Visit our Free Being Me Space in Campfire for more information: https://campfire.wagggs.org/freebeingme
Links to Activities and Resources
To better prepare you to implement FBM, you are encouraged to join the online FBM Facilitators training happening this February to March.
Campfire FBM Facilitators’ Training Registration Link:
https://campfire.wagggs.org/topic/free-being-me-online-global-facilitators-training
Registration Link for those who are not in Campfire yet: https://forms.office.com/e/NtYRPjPrQc
New FBM Activity Packs: https://free-being-me.com/downloads/
Free Being Me Space in Campfire: https://campfire.wagggs.org/freebeingme
Orientation Recording
Grant orientation sessions were conducted last 17, 19 and 20 February 2023. You can view the recording and the presentation through this link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cUKVGysxbRsGcjCP0yBKw5EORv3lFzt…
If you were not able to participate in the orientation session, please feel free to get in touch with Rio or Abigail through the contact details below so we can schedule one for you.
Click the arrow on the right to view the grant orientation presentation:
Contact Details
If you have questions, clarification, requests for extension/considerations, or any support needed, please do not hesitate to contact Rio <[email protected]> and Abigail <[email protected]>.
