Guidelines for applicants

The Trust is not able to make very large grants – grants from the Trust at present are mainly in the range £1,000-£3,000 and rarely go above £5,000. Trustees are most likely to respond positively to applications which set out a specific project or activity where a sum of that order would make a substantial difference. They do not normally contribute to general appeals for funds, nor to the general running costs of an organisation, to building appeals, or where the Trustees judge that a project is primarily of a commercial nature.

How to apply

We do not use an application form: we prefer to let each applicant present their case in the way they judge best. However, we do require your presentation to include an account of the specific purpose or project for which you require a grant, and a budget for the project, showing both estimated costs and likely sources of income (so that we can see where a grant from the Trust would fit into the general picture). If you have a recent set of annual accounts available, you should include that too.

These are the minimum requirements for an application, and for some kinds of project they may be all that is needed; but it is obviously useful to the Trust in assessing an application to have any more general information which you think relevant, for example about the history and general aims and structure of your organisation.

Applications are assessed when they are received. However, any grant above £1000 requires specific approval by the Trustees. Trustees meet normally in late March and early September; papers for each meeting are drawn up about a month beforehand; so if the timing is critical to you, you should aim to get an application in by mid-February or mid-July accordingly.

As the Trust has a particular focus on supporting individuals, grants to organisations or corporate projects are occasionally reduced in number to only one or two projects per year. Please expect stiff competition for grants. If the Trust is unable to support your application for any reason, you will be notified as early as possible.