Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust Grant in the UK

Deadline: 14-Sep-23

Applicants are now invited to submit their applications for the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust Grant to work for a just and democratic society and to redress political and social injustices.

It is a wide-ranging remit for reform, but the Trust will prioritise organisations that are ineligible for charitable funding because they are considered too political or radical to come within the Charity Commission’s guidelines. The Trust’s approach is similar to that of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust with which it maintains informal links.

The Trust will support work undertaken at both regional and national level and may also consider pioneering projects operating on a more local basis that have a potentially wider impact.

The Trust normally gives grants only to groups or organisations, but in very exceptional cases it may consider an application from an individual with proven experience or skill in their chosen field or it may make a personal award to an individual in support of outstanding commitment and effectiveness relevant to the Trust’s interests.

Funding Information

• The Trust administers investments producing a grant budget that currently varies between about £100,000 and £130,000 a year.
• The majority of recent grants have ranged between £1,500 and £10,000. Grants at the upper end of this range are constrained by the impact this has on the Trust’s limited overall funds given the high numbers of applications received.
• For this reason the Trust is also unlikely to support organizations with an annual income/expenditure that exceeds £250,000 approximately.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Trust is a non-profit-making company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales.
• The application process
  • All applications are considered in two stages:
    • Stage 1 – you are asked to complete and submit the preliminary registration form for the AWRT HERE to register an interest in submitting a full application, and to allow an initial assessment to be made.
    • A full application is not required at this point.
    • Stage 2 – if trustees are interested in your proposal, they will ask you to submit a full application which should meet the detailed requirements explained.
  • There is no standard application form and applicants are asked to submit:
    • Up to four A4 pages setting out your proposal;
    • A full budget for the project;
    • Your most recent audited annual accounts or an up-to-date statement of income & expenditure (if only recently formed).

Once a grant has been given

• It is a condition of the grant that:
  • any proposed change in use of a grant should be notified to the administrator for trustees’ approval before change is enacted; and
  • a report is provided between 12 and 15 months after the grant was made, and:
  • trustees expect that evaluation and reporting should be included in the planning of your project;
  • grantees should not wait to be reminded about sending a report back;
  • reports should begin by stating the amount awarded and when the grant started.

What the Trust does not fund?

• The Trust does not fund:
  • applications from registered charities
  • activities that could be funded from charitable sources:
    • their decisions are informed by Charity Commission guidance on the descriptions of charitable purposes and permissible campaigning and political activities by charities
    • applications that meet all the Trust requirements, except that they are eligible for charitable funding, should therefore be sent to the Scurrah Wainwright Charity.
    • campaigns outside the UK
    • general appeals
    • activities that seek to promote a particular political party or parties, or to influence the outcome of an election.

For more information, visit Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust.