The Little Princess Trust provides free real hair wigs to children and young people up to the age of 24, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions. We also fund childhood cancer research searching to find kinder and more effective treatments. Projects must align with the objectives set out in The LPT’s Research Strategy and should focus on improving outcomes for children and young people.
Funded projects will:
- Improve survival, treatment or patient care
- Provide patients with kinder, less toxic treatments
- Assist in transferring research progress from the lab to a clinical setting
- Broaden and deepen knowledge of children and young people’s cancers.
The focus should be on improving outcomes for children and young people.
LPT Project Grants can be for small or pilot studies, and larger project grants. Previous awards have ranged from £40,000 to £250,000 with an average award of around £200,000. However, there is no upper limit for proposals and decisions are primarily based on the quality of the proposed research and its potential impact rather than cost. Grants are to support ‘projects’ rather than ‘programmes’ and so the budget should be appropriate for this. Project duration is generally up to 36 months, although projects that exceed this duration will be considered if the timescale is justified.
Previous projects have covered a wide range of research. Find out more about previous projects.
Applications to this funding round should be for scientific proposals that study:
- New approaches to treatment, in particular:
- More effective treatment with fewer toxicities/on-treatment side effects
- Approaches to treatment that may lead to a reduction in short- and long-term sequelae of treatment (but studies focusing on treatment of late effects, health behaviour interventions for survivors, fertility/reproductive health and psychosocial aspects are unlikely to be considered)
- The causes of childhood or TYA cancer, where the research is likely to lead to an improvement in outcomes
- Accurate diagnosis of childhood or TYA cancer, where the research is likely to lead to an improvement in outcomes
The Trust generally funds basic science (with a clear plan for translation/patient benefit), translational and clinical research. Other types of research are unlikely to be considered for this funding scheme. For more information, read The Little Princess Trust's Research Strategy.
These project grants may support stand-alone projects, research that is part of a wider project or trial, or research that is likely to lead to a further, larger grant application. Funding is available to UK and Ireland based research organisations, i.e. universities and hospitals.
You should read our guidance for applicants in full prior to starting an application.
The deadline for applications is 17:00 on Wednesday 8 October 2025. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. Funding is available to UK and Ireland based research organisations, i.e. universities and hospitals.
Applications will be judged on
- Research need and scope
- Background evidence, preliminary data and hypothesis
- Design of proposed study
- Leadership & expertise of research team
- Justification of resources.
Application Process
- All applications should be submitted through our online portal. You will need to sign up for an account with us to complete this process. Applications must be completed by 17:00 on 8 October 2025.
- Applications will be awarded through a competitive peer reviewed process (in line with AMRC principles) and a recommendation will be made by our Research Advisory Group (RAG) to the Little Princess Trust who will have final decision on the grants awarded.
- Awarded grants will be subject to the CCLG Research Grant Terms and Conditions
- Informal enquires can be made to research@cclg.org.uk.
- We would expect final decisions to be made by the end of March 2026, so please plan your proposed start date accordingly.
Please read our guidance for applicants before starting an application:
How research applications are selected
Excellent research governance is at the heart of our research decision making. Our independent Research Advisory Group (RAG) overseas our research grant rounds. All of our RAG members and external peer reviewers are asked to declare any Conflicts of Interest and adhere to our Grant Review Code of Conduct. Following peer review, the RAG will discuss and rank the applications for funding. Final approval comes from the Little Princess Trust Research Subcommittee.