Eligibility Questions
Can we apply if we are not a registered charity?
No, we can only accept applications from UK registered charities.
Do you fund Community Interest Companies (CICs) or Non-Profit organisations?
No, we can only fund charities registered with one of the UK Charity Commissions.
Do you fund individuals?
No, we don’t make grants to individuals and unfortunately don’t have the resources to reply to any such funding requests.
What geographical areas do you fund?
For the Social & Criminal Justice, Heritage & Conservation, and Older People categories, we fund projects operating in the British Isles.
For the Overseas category, we fund UK registered charities delivering projects in the Commonwealth countries of Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia.
We consider the quality of the projects more important than their geographical location.
What don’t you fund?
Details of our general exclusions can be found here. Each funding category also has additional specific exclusions, which you can find details of on the individual category pages.
Can we apply if we don’t have a full year’s accounts?
We do not accept applications from charities which are newly established and do not have at least one set of annual accounts.
Can we apply if we have very low or very high reserves?
If the charity’s unrestricted reserves are less than three months’ expenditure or more than nine months’ expenditure an explanation will be required.
The trustees are unlikely to award a grant to charities which have unrestricted reserves over 12 months’ expenditure without good reason.
General Questions
How much can we apply for?
The grant amounts are dependent on the category you’re applying under:
- Social & Criminal Justice – one to three year grant of £15,000 – £25,000 per annum.
- Overseas – one year grant up to £15,000.
- Heritage & Conservation – one year grant up to £50,000.
- Older People – one year grant up to £7,000.
The size of each grant is decided by the trustees and is often dependent on the grant budget available at the time. As a result, sometimes applicants may be awarded a smaller grant than they applied for.
Can we apply for a multi-year grant?
We only offer multi-year grants in our Social & Criminal Justice category.
Do you fund existing work or new projects?
We fund ongoing projects that can demonstrate their effectiveness, necessary additions or developments to existing projects, and new projects where the need is evidenced, and continuation is likely to occur if proven impactful.
What are the chances of receiving a grant?
The ratio of successful to unsuccessful applications changes regularly. We receive many more funding requests than we can support and, like most grant-making organisations, have to turn down a considerable number of the applications we consider, despite them meeting our criteria.
Can we re-apply if we have been unsuccessful previously?
You must wait at least one year from the date you were notified of an unsuccessful outcome before re-applying to the Foundation. If you do re-apply, please check our website to make sure your charity and the project you’re requesting funding for still meets our eligibility criteria and priorities.
Do you provide feedback on unsuccessful applications?
Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide tailored feedback to all charities that apply. However, if you contact us, we will endeavour to provide feedback when possible and where appropriate.
Application Process Questions
Are there any deadlines for applications?
This is dependent on the category. Click here for more information on our deadlines.
How do we apply?
Please see the relevant category page where you will find detailed information on how to apply and any supporting documents that need to be submitted in addition.
How long will it take to assess our application?
For the Social & Criminal Justice, Overseas, and Heritage & Conservation categories, notification of a Stage 1 decision takes approximately eight weeks (from the submission deadline). For those applicants that progress to Stage 2, it takes a further 10-12 weeks for a final funding decision.
For the Older People category, we aim to notify you of the outcome of your application within four months.
Click here for more information on our application process.
Can we meet with you to discuss an application?
We are a very small team so due to limited resources we are only able to meet with current grantees. If you have questions about applying to the Foundation, then please look at the relevant section of our website first to see if your query can be answered there.
If you still need to get in touch after, we are happy to answer any questions you might have by phone (preferable) or email.
Do you comment on draft applications?
No, we are unable to comment on draft applications ahead of them being submitted. However, please contact us if you have any specific questions.