Children’s Promise Grant Programme Katharine Howard Foundation

The Katharine Howard Foundation (KHF) is an independent Irish philanthropic foundation dedicated to improving the lives of young children and their families, particularly those experiencing disadvantage. Established in 1979, KHF has a long-standing commitment to tackling child poverty through prevention and early intervention, supporting community-based programmes that promote early learning, parenting support, and family well-being. Guided by values of collaboration, innovation, and evidence-informed practice, the Foundation works closely with local organisations, other funders, and statutory bodies to create sustainable, positive change for children across Ireland. 

The Children’s Promise Fund by the Katharine Howard Foundation stands as a landmark in Irish philanthropy, representing a deeply strategic response to child poverty and its intergenerational consequences. Founded on KHF’s ethos of collaboration and early intervention, the programme provides financial support to small, community-based organisations that work with children from the prenatal period through to early childhood. Recognising that childhood poverty undermines wellbeing and life chances, Children’s Promise seeks to prevent harm before it occurs, helping families build nurturing relationships, reducing stressors, and empowering local services to respond effectively. The programme is delivered in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland and is rooted in the belief that while poverty is complex and structural, local community actors are best placed to deliver early interventions that can transform children’s trajectories. The programme is also expanding in 2025 with the Sunflower Charitable Trust joining Community Foundation Ireland as a funding partner, enabling Children’s Promise to support more community-based organisations across Ireland. 

Central to the programme is its support for four types of interventions: early years and young children’s projects, parental support programmes, research into gaps or promising practice, and capacity building within organisations. This flexible structure reflects KHF’s recognition that the impact of poverty varies by community and requires multi-faceted, locally tailored responses. In practice, grants of up to €45,000 over three years or once-off strategic grants of €15,000 have enabled organisations with annual incomes under €2 million to expand vital services, build sustainable models, and strengthen their evidence base. Alongside financial assistance, grantees receive non-financial supports, including participation in a Community of Practice learning network, strategic planning and sustainability advice, and help to gather and present impact data - acknowledging that many of these groups operate on minimal resources with extraordinary dedication from staff and volunteers. 

Since its launch, Children’s Promise has generated impressive engagement. In 2023, 172 applications were received, and 17 organisations were selected, demonstrating the high demand and creativity within Ireland’s community sector. These ranged from Hill Street Family Resource Centre’s intercultural early education support in Dublin’s North-East Inner City, to Anew’s intensive perinatal care for homeless mothers, the Clonmel Community Mothers Programme’s home visiting service to reduce pregnancy stress, Amber Women’s Refuge’s roll-out of parenting programmes for domestic violence survivors, and the East Cork Traveller Project’s creation of parent networks to tackle health and education disparities. These multi-year projects shared a focus on building secure parent–child relationships, supporting vulnerable parents during pregnancy and early years, and embedding preventative models that reduce long-term disadvantage. 

In 2024, the second year of the programme, 74 strong applications were received, and 18 projects were selected to receive support. These included Dóchas Midwest Autism Support, expanding family supports and autism awareness in disadvantaged Limerick communities; The Exchange Inishowen in Donegal, delivering baby basics packs and emotional support for marginalised refugee and Traveller mothers; the Irish Baroque Orchestra’s “Resonate Project” of free music lessons to boost confidence and communication among Ballymun infants; Clare Haven Services’ play-based therapeutic group for mothers and babies affected by domestic abuse; and Finglas West Family Resource Centre’s trauma-informed early literacy and wellbeing programmes for children aged 0–5 and their parents. Other initiatives targeted parental capacity-building, home visiting, and culturally inclusive family hubs - like the Youghal Family Resource Initiative’s PEEP parenting programme for young local and migrant parents, and Huruma/Wellsprings’ outreach with care-experienced young mothers in Cork. 

Beyond individual grants, Children’s Promise operates as a national platform for shared learning and advocacy. KHF convenes Children’s Promise events and Communities of Practice where grantees meet to exchange knowledge, reflect on challenges, and showcase promising approaches. This collaborative infrastructure helps prevent duplication, encourages strategic alignment with statutory services, and amplifies the voices of small organisations in national policy debates. Some grantees use their funding explicitly to build strategic capacity, such as Youngballymun’s development of an Early Childhood Universal Home Visiting model or Liffey Area Partnership’s strategic plan for a Community Families Programme in Ballyfermot. These efforts highlight how community-driven insights, when supported and connected, can shape national early years policy and investment frameworks. 

The 2025 Children’s Promise Grants Programme event brought together grantees, trustees, policy experts, practice leaders, and community partners under a shared mission: to end child poverty in our lifetime. Dr. Cliona Hannon, CEO of KHF, who opened the event, welcomed attendees from the 2023–2025 grant cycles and highlighted the impact captured in report cards on display. Both Dr. Hannon and Chairperson of KHF, Willie Holmes, both acknowledged the vital support of Community Foundation Ireland and the Sunflower Charitable Foundation, whose partnership has enabled the programme to support 54 initiatives over the past three years, including 19 new projects in 2025. Holmes underlined the difficulty of selecting from the 82 applications this year and reiterated the programme’s focus on sustainability, collaboration, and learning through a community of practice. 

The programme prioritises children in their earliest years, with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities and integration supports for migrant and refugee families. Progress is monitored through an outcomes-based accountability framework, asking how much was done, how well it was done, and whether anyone is better off. Already, multi-year projects have reached more than 1,300 children, with learnings shared regularly among grantees and with policymakers. 

The practice panel showcased frontline experiences. Frances Haworth of Meath Women’s Refuge emphasised the importance of independent, confidential spaces for children affected by domestic violence, highlighting how dedicated children’s workers in both refuge and community settings help break cycles of trauma. She stressed that best practice must include consistent national access to specialist supports. Marion Barnard from ANEW spoke about the first 1,000 days of pregnancy, underlining how poverty in pregnancy and infancy profoundly shapes lifelong health and development. She pointed to stark evidence, including high rates of prematurity among babies born to homeless women, and stressed the importance of secure housing, nutrition, and emotional support for mothers. 

From Limerick, Alison Curtin of Bedford Row described the power of community-based therapeutic supports for families affected by imprisonment, addiction, and homelessness. She emphasised the importance of safe, welcoming spaces and inter-agency collaboration, noting that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Finally, Ruth Garvey Williams from Exchange Inishowen highlighted how parent–infant and toddler groups can transform lives by reducing isolation and creating supportive networks for parents. Practical supports, such as baby basics packs and mental health referrals, were described as simple yet essential, and she called for greater recognition of the voluntary sector’s role alongside statutory services. 

Dr. Anne Dee, Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) President, broadened the discussion to health equity and systemic drivers of inequality. Dr. Dee defined health as complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not just the absence of disease, and stressed that social determinants such as housing, education, and income account for 80% of health outcomes, with healthcare access contributing only 20%. Childhood poverty and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were identified as major risk factors for chronic illness, addiction, and suicide, cutting life expectancy by 10–15 years in the most deprived communities. In Limerick, where extreme disadvantage has trebled since 2016, a new Marmot Place initiative is being developed, inspired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s work, to unite statutory agencies in tackling inequalities. Its initial focus is on giving every child the best start in life, from pregnancy to age 20. 

Nationally, policymakers reported that consistent child poverty remains at 8.5%, with a new target to reduce it to 3% by 2030. The newly established CUAN Agency coordinates the national strategy on domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence, while Tusla continues to handle around 100,000 annual referrals, increasingly through community-based supports like Family Resource Centres. 

Across the panels, a clear wish list emerged: more investment in community organisations and frontline workers, additional beds and tailored supports for pregnant women experiencing homelessness, and the scaling up of specialist services for children affected by domestic violence. Speakers also called for better integration across government departments to reduce siloed responses and for sustainable recognition of the contribution of voluntary and community organisations. 

The event concluded with a strong message: while the challenges are great, investment in early years, family supports and joined-up government action can deliver long-term change. The Children’s Promise Grants Programme is demonstrating how community-led innovation can tackle child poverty, but sustained commitment to equity is needed to ensure that no child in Ireland is left behind. 

Ultimately, Children’s Promise exemplifies a relational and trust-based model of philanthropy. Rather than imposing top-down directives, it funds local organisations as equal partners and recognises their expertise in responding to the complex realities of childhood poverty. By combining financial support with mentoring, evaluation support, and convening power, KHF has created a philanthropic model that fosters resilience, innovation, and systemic influence. For Irish philanthropists, this offers a clear lesson: that the most effective way to address entrenched disadvantage is to invest early, empower community actors, and nurture the ecosystems around vulnerable children. Through its grants, events, and networks, Children’s Promise is not only transforming outcomes for children but also strengthening Ireland’s early years sector laying the foundations for a future in which all children can thrive, regardless of their starting point.