NHS Maternity Care Research Small Grants Programme

NHS South Yorkshire exists to improve health and wellbeing and ensure our people have access to the services they need to live well throughout their lifetime. This starts from birth, which is why our Local Maternity & Neonatal System (LMNS) works with pregnant women, birthing people, parents, and families to improve the care and support provided during pregnancy and beyond.

We know that some women in South Yorkshire are more likely than others to have poor experiences of maternity care and poor outcomes. We want to change that. To do this, we need to hear from the specific communities identified below.

We are keen to work with groups across South Yorkshire who can engage their communities in gathering stories, feedback and experiences from women and families who have used maternity and neonatal services in the past 2-3 years.

By the end of March 2026, your organisation should have undertaken comprehensive community engagement and shaped that information into work that can be shared at a special listening event on 28^th April, and with NHS South Yorkshire, so it can feed into its new involvement strategy.

Specific Community Engagement

We would like to hear from groups, working with women who are pregnant or have been pregnant in the last two-three years, and their families, within the following specific communities:

• Working in areas of high deprivation in Barnsley
• From Doncaster Romanian communities, and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities
• In Rotherham working with young people and/or in areas of high deprivation
• In Sheffield working with the Somali and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities.
• From anywhere across South Yorkshire who work with pregnant young people and/or adults living with complex medical conditions, i.e. Diabetes, Epilepsy etc.

We know that these communities often experience the poorest outcomes from maternity care; pre- and post-natal, and we need to make sure our future strategy better represents these under-served communities, and future care is co-designed by them, so their voices can be amplified.

We can support you with what information to capture if that would be useful, please let us know in your application.

Please read the Grant Guidance Notes and check the SYCF Due Diligence documents below to check the criteria for this fund and to make sure your organisation is eligible to apply.

How much can we apply for?

The total funding available for South Yorkshire is just over £35,000, and we would like to fund a minimum of two organisations per region, so applications should ask for no more than £4,375. Although the communities we wish to engage with are specific, we do expect the application process to be competitive, so please only apply if you are confident you can fully engage with this project as outlined.

What can I spend the money on?

Depending on the approach you want to take, you could receive a grant for:

• Staffing costs (we encourage you to meet the National Living Wage)
• Volunteer costs
• Resources such as food/drink, marketing and tools to encourage meaningful community engagement throughout the programme.
• Reasonable contribution towards overheads if they directly support community engagement on this specific project. This could include transportation costs to take part in activity. It could also include transportation costs for participants to attend the Community Event in April.

When is the closing date

The deadline for applications is 9am, Monday 24^th November 2025. 

Application process and timeline

Application is via our online application form.

Applications will be assessed by an expert local panel in early December with grants distributed before the Christmas break.

If your application is successful, we would expect activity to take place over the below timeline:

• w/c 5^th January - Project start (though earlier is fine)
• Jan – March - Activity to take place throughout January and February, March if needed.
• 25^th – 27^th March - Meet with the LMNS. We would arrange to meet you between 25^th – 27^th March to go through your research and chat through how you would like to present/share your findings at the event on 28^th
• 28^th April - Listening event at Gulliver’s Rother Valley
• May (TBC) – Feedback meeting. We would join you and your research group for a feedback meeting in May so we can tell you what has happened as a result of the work and April event and talk about ways to stay connected and involved in the new strategy and maternity care going forward.
• Although we need to receive your research and stories by the end of March, you are welcome to continue your activity and community engagement after the feedback meeting. When your activity ends is up to you and the funding! We would need you to tell us when it would be so we can receive a short end of grant report to confirm conclusion of the work.