Within the UK there has been a major expansion of support for learning about global and development issues, influenced by policies from the Labour government and the work of a wide network of civil society organisations. (Bourn 2003: Hicks and Holden, 2007) What has emerged from a number of the initiatives supported by governments have been assumptions relating the input of funding to project development to outcomes that result in behaviour change be it on public support for aid, climate change or fair trade. (Marshall 2005. McDonnell, 2004). This paper will address some of the challenges for educationalists in both responding to learners interest in global issues and the goals of funders. It will further outline the outcomes of recent research from networks of NGOs around the UK on how they are influencing the teaching of the global dimension within the schools through a UK government funded program.