Grant Directories

The Pawprint Trust provides funding for individuals aged 11-25 from across the UK with life-changing adventures both locally and abroad, that develop their skills, capacities, and capabilities. Funding is awarded annually for projects and activities such as international trips, camping adventures, personal development projects, and community projects.

The Constance Travis Charitable Trust offers grants to local, national and international charities covering activities in medical care and research, environment protection, international aid, animal welfare, community projects, social mobility enhancement, educational projects and outreach in the arts.

The Fat Beehive Foundation is an independent UK registered charity that provides small grants for websites and digital products to other small UK registered charities.   The aim of the Foundation is to help these organisations carry out their work in a more efficient and effective way, resulting in positive social benefit.

The Schroder Charity Trust is an independent grant-making Family Trust that has been supporting the charitable and voluntary sector for over 70 years.   The Trust makes grants in the areas of Arts, Culture and heritage; Environment and Conservation; Strengthening Communities; Education, Training and Employment; Health and Wellbeing.

The Dulverton Trust is an independent grant-making charity that supports UK charities and Charitable incorporated Organisations tackling a range of social issues, protecting the natural world, and preserving heritage crafts.  Through its International Stability and Reconstruction funding strand, the Trust supports charities that provide support facilities or expertise to organisations engaged in disaster preparedness; and are engaged in peace intervention.

The Wellcome Trust is a research charity that funds research to improve human and animal health. The Trust supports both biomedical research and research into the public understanding of science. Through the Internatioanl Intermediate Fellowships programme the Trust offers nationals of low- and middle-income countries the opportunity to lead their own research programmes.

The aim of UK Aid Direct Small Charities Challenge Fund is to fund small and medium-sized national and international civil society organisations (CSOs) to reduce poverty and work towards achieving the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Specifically, UK Aid Direct funding aims to reach the most marginalised and vulnerable populations, supporting the Department for International Development agenda to ‘leave no one behind’. Grants of up to £50,000 are available for projects of up to 2 years. The projects should strengthen the capacity of grassroots development organisations working with the poor, vulnerable and most marginalised to carry out work in priority countries and work towards achieving the Global Goal

The Joffe Charitable Trust aims to inspire and support people to do as much as possible to realise human rights and reduce poverty in developing countries. The focus of the trusts work is on two areas: tackling corruption & tax abuse and building stronger not-for-profit organisations. The trust encourage and support leaders to build stronger organisations that can achieve more over the long term. Grants are made to encourage strategic collaboration and convene events where they can be helpful.

The Rhododendron Trust makes grants of £1,000 to £2,000 to registered charities supporting the disadvantaged in the developing world and the UK and to those supporting the arts and wildlife. Smaller Charities are prioritised. In the developing world, the Trust prefers to support charities benefitting people affected by poverty and, for example, disability, age, gender, ethnic status, poor medical, welfare or educational infrastructure. In the UK, support is given to charities working with those disadvantaged by disability or mental illness; prisoners and ex-offenders; drug addiction; homelessness; carers; the elderly; disadvantaged children. Arts and Nature funding is mainly through the National Churches Trust and Fauna and Flora International, however proposals for small theatre and music projects, for the protection of cultural and natural heritage or environmental sustainability are accepted.

The Staying Alive Foundation is a grant making organisation that funds youth led programs to fight HIV globally. The foundation supports community based grassroots organisations led by young people between the ages of 15 and 27 that work in HIV prevention. Funding is available of up to US$12,000 per year and grants from the foundation also come with a range of other materials (including MTV Staying Alive programming and teaching kits), a small fund to buy technical media equipment, a local mentor, a personal grant manager and training and development. The aim of the foundation is to educate young people about HIV and AIDS, eliminate or alleviate the stigma and discrimination associated with the disease and to encourage young people to take concrete action to protect themselves from infection.

The Kirby Laing Foundation supports a wide range of Charities in the UK and abroad and has a particular interest in: Promotion of the Evangelical Christian faith: Education particularly science and engineering and youth development: Medical research particularly concerning dementia and stroke: social/medical welfare projects: Preservation of cultural/environmental heritage and improving access to the arts for young people: Overseas development projects. The trust operates a reactive small grants programme that is open to applications and a larger grants programme that is invitation only. A significant percentage of the grants awarded are for one-off capital purposes; most other grants are directed at specific projects meeting a clearly defined need, which cannot be met from statutory sources.

Established in 1979 by Sir Martin Laing, grandson of Sir John Laing, the trust is particularly interested in environmental and conservation work, small community projects benefitting disadvantaged young people or the elderly and infirm and Norfolk-based activities. A small number of grants are made to overseas projects particularly in Malta and Thailand. Most grants range between £500 and £10,000. Very few unsolicited applications are successful.

The Trust has a specifically Christian focus and most grants are made to or through faith based organisations. The Trustees have three main areas of interest: Advancement of the Christian religion: Relief of poverty in the UK: Relief of poverty overseas. Support is offered to projects run by Churches or Christian organisations and registered Charities and includes support for Charities working overseas especially in Africa.

The Golden Bottle Trust is a charitable foundation which was established by C Hoare & Co Bank in 1985. The trust provides funding to support registered charities working in the following areas: Arts, Education, Environmental Sustainability, Health and Social Investment. In 2015 £2million of funding was available, and the trusts focus was: The relief of those in need, Arts Culture and Heritage, Health and Saving Lives Some of the projects supported include: Intermission Youth Theatre - £30,000 to help engage with young people from London's inner-city communities who are at risk of offending or who lack opportunity; Ashoka Support Network - £18,000 to support social entrepreneurs who are trying to solve complex social problems; Media Trust - £15,000 to help give a voice to charities through connections with the media industry. The Trust doesn't generally respond to unsolicited appeals.

The Baring Foundation is an independent grantmaking trust. The International Development programme is aimed at challenging discrimination and disadvantage. In 2015 the Foundation launched a new programme that aims to empower locally based civil society organisations to address discrimination and disadvantage based on gender, sexual orientation or gender identity in sub-Saharan Africa. The Foundation believe that discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities violates basic human rights, but also hampers broader development. Tackling discrimination can lead to fairer, more just communities and allows for development that benefits all in society equally. For this programme grants are considered by invitation only.

UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) started in April 2006 with the aim of enhancing educational links between India and the UK. UKIERI has been recognized as a key multi stakeholder programme that has strengthened the educational relations between the two countries and been successful in covering all segments of the education sector. Mutuality of benefit has been the core principle of all partnerships supported under the programme. UKIERI committed over £35 million through three main strands of Higher Education & Research, Schools & Professional and Technical Skills in the first phase of the programme. The programme also offered an opportunity for policy dialogue between India and the UK on areas of mutual interest.

The Classical Association offers grants to support educational projects related to classical studies, particularly for teachers and educational institutions. Grants can fund activities like field trips, events, workshops, or other initiatives that promote the study of ancient languages, history, and culture. UK-based teachers, schools, and universities can apply, with priority given to projects that widen access to classical subjects or engage a broader range of students.

The Souter Charitable Trust is a grant making organisation that assists projects engaged in the relief of human suffering in the UK and overseas- particularly, but not exclusively, those with a Christian emphasis and ethos.Over the last five years the trust has awarded over 3,200 grants worth more than £32million. The trust has supported a range of projects including projects to combat malaria and projects to supply daily meals to school children in Africa. Grants are made only to registered charities; all projects for capital building and renovation work are specifically excluded. The trustees meet once a month to consider applications.

The Philip Henman Trust offers grants to major UK based overseas development organisations requiring partnership funding for projects lasting between three and five years. These grants are split into annual payments (normally between £3,000 and £5,000 P.A.) with a maximum total of £25,000. The trust is only interested in projects concerned with long term overseas development. The Trustees of the Philip Henman Trust meet once a year in October. Applications for long term grants should be sent before the 10th of September for consideration at the October meeting.

The Archer Trust focuses on providing aid or support to a defined group of needy or deserving people, for instance those with physical or mental disabilities or the disadvantaged. The Trust prefer to support organisations working in areas of high unemployment and deprivation, and they favour charities which make good use of volunteers. Projects both in the UK and overseas are welcomed, as long as overseas projects are via UK charities so that they can ensure that funds are being well used. Small UK charities for whom a grant of between £500 and £4,000 will make a big difference are favoured. Applications can be submitted at any time but Trustees only meet twice a year, normally in March and September.

The Scurrah Wainright Charity focuses on innovative work in the field of social reform, with a preference for 'root-cause' rather than palliative projects. The charity funds projects in England, primarily in Yorkshire and the North of England, as well as Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. It favours causes that are outside the mainstream, and unlikely to be funded by other charities. The Charity does not fund Individuals, Animal welfare, Buildings, Medical research or support for individual medical conditions or substitution for Government funding eg in education and health. Typically, grants are between £1,000 and £5,000, but in cases of exceptional merit larger grants may be awarded. 

The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts is the operating office of 18 grant-making trusts established by three generations of the Sainsbury family. Each trust works autonomously as an independent legal entity with a separate board of trustees, actively led by an individual member of the family.
The Headley Trust Grant funds many areas such as Arts, heritage and conservation projects in the UK of outstanding creative or architectural importance. They are also keen to help with repair work to cathedrals, restoration of buildings and development projects in sub-Saharan Anglophone Africa, and Ethiopia (This is not an exhaustive list, please see website). The amount of funding is discretionary and applications can be submitted at any time.

The objectives of The Barbara Ward Children's Foundation are to carry out charitable purposes anywhere in the world, primarily in relation to children. Initially the foundation seeks to make grants to other charitable organisations with similar aims, in order to meet its goals. Since it was established in 2001 The Barbara Ward Children's Foundation has reviewed over 5700 requests for funding. They have approved grants to over 670 organisations totalling over £9.4 million. The charities they have supported have helped children in Barbados, Cameroon, England, Kenya, Kosovo, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Russia, Scotland and Wales. Applications can be submitted at any time.

The Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation (PPCF) is a grant giving trust with Quaker family roots in the United Kingdom. They aim to contribute to the development of a just society based on a commitment to nonviolence and environmental sustainability. The Trust supports projects that seek to influence values and attitudes, promote equity and social justice, and develop radical alternatives to current economic and social structures. The foundation currently supports the following: Peace and sustainable security - the development of ways of resolving violent conflicts peacefully and addressing their underlying causes; Environmental sustainability - work that addresses the pressures and conditions that risk global environmental breakdown.

The Wood Foundation (TWF) is a Scottish based charity with a Global outlook. In Sub Saharan Africa and in the UK, TWF will invest in economic, community and enterprise initiatives which develop and support individuals to become caring and contributing members of society. The Foundation is proactive by nature and will only accept applications through our global citizenship programme.  Funding is provided through three programme: Making Markets Work for the Poor Sub Saharan Africa; Facilitating Economic and Education Development in Scotland; and Developing Young People in Scotland

Administered through WorldView, bursaries of up to £10,000 are available to spend up to three months researching stories and programme/content ideas in the developing world. Applicants may find new stories while ‘in field’ but are expected to have already identified multiple story ideas that would be of interest to a diverse range of UK media outlets, prior to contacting WorldView. Applicants are expected to demonstrate significant research into the area they are proposing to visit and must also indicate a range of potential story ideas suitable for multimedia outlets in the UK, eg. local newspaper coverage, online, magazine features etc. Where possible, grantees will be expected to network with broadcast professionals in the countries they are visiting.

WorldView is a project of the Public Media Alliance. It aims to improve understanding and awareness of the wider world among a global audience via mainstream broadcast and digital media. Funding is available for projects that aim to promote better understanding of the developing world; highlighting the challenges and importance for both developed and developing countries of reducing poverty. Currently only established programme makers/media producers may apply. Individual producers are not excluded from applying to the fund, but are encouraged to approach established production companies to oversee their projects. Preference will be given to projects that aim to extend audience reach.

The Foundation is a UK based charity who's main remit is to offer Rufford Small Grants for nature conservation projects in the developing world. The Rufford Small Grants Foundation supports small scale or pilot projects with a nature/biodiversity conservation focus and has a broad scope of interest, as well as the conservation of particular threatened charismatic species, the protection of which is likely to benefit their natural habitat, it is also interested in those often neglected or less well known species. It is also keen to support projects which go beyond a species specific focus to provide habitat protection at a wider scale.

The Barrow Cadbury Trust is an independent charitable foundation, committed to supporting vulnerable and marginalised people in society. The Trust promotes social justice through grant making, research, influencing public opinion and policy and supporting local communities.  Their work is divided into three programme areas: Criminal Justice - building evidence of effective interventions, primarily for young adults and women, at all stages of the criminal justice process; Migration - promoting an immigration system that is fair to both migrants and established residents; Economic Justice - supporting effective approaches to reducing economic and social injustice and assisting in building resilient communities. There is a particular focus on projects located in Birmingham and the Black Country.

The Commonwealth Foundation awards grants for sustainable development projects that contribute to effective, responsive and accountable governance with civil society participation.  Awards are open to civil society organisations for up to £50,000 per year for up to four years for projects delivered in Commonwealth Foundation eligible member countries.  Projects must focus on creative expression, capacity development, constructive engagement, learning and sharing and the SAMOA pathway.