Yes, the Charity will fund core costs, particularly when there is a good case that they cannot be found from existing resources. The amount requested must be reasonable but if you have no other core funding it is unlikely that the Charity will be able to help.

No, this is not a requirement of a grant request although we may not release funds until the majority of the funding is in place, particularly for big capital projects. Requests are assessed on a case by case basis.

Only one grant is allowed per organisation at any one time.

Unfortunately the Charity is unable to respond to emergency appeals or fund retrospectively.

The Charity operates a two stage application process. In the first instance we ask that you write an initial proposal letter outlining your project. We will only send you an Application Form if your initial proposal has been assessed positively. You will be advised of the most appropriate deadline date for your project.

The application form for the School Explorer Fund can be downloaded here.

Please see the downloadable guidelines for writing an initial proposal letter.

Yes, for the Main Grants Fund and Schools in Partnership Fund we have three deadlines throughout the year in September, January and April. When you are sent a copy of the application form you will be advised of the appropriate deadline date. There are no deadlines for Small Grants or the Access to the Arts Fund. Applications for any grants programme may be submitted at any time.

We are happy to accept Stage One initial proposals via email.

Stage Two Application Forms may be sent by email. For Main Grants, you may send Parts 1, 2 and 3 by email. However, we cannot accept the Declaration Form and Bank Statement electronically. You must post these to the Charity with original signatures ensuring that they arrive on or before the deadline date.

If your application is approved by the Trustee we will write to you informing you of their decision and send you a Contract outlining the Terms and Conditions of your grant. This will set out our grant requirements and any specific conditions that may need to be completed. You will also receive a Branding Contract to confirm that you understand and agree to the Charity’s policy on branding and acknowledgement. We will only release funding once this form has been signed and returned to us and we are happy that all conditions have been met.

The Trustee meet two months after the deadline date for applications in November, March and June. The application process from proposal letter to decision takes approximately six months. Applications assessed under the Small Grants Fund are processed more quickly.

If you have returned your Contract, Branding Contract and completed all the conditions we will release the grant payment. The Contract needs to be signed by a Trustee and have all bank details correctly completed. These bank details need to match the bank statement you have previously provided to the Charity. Your Grants Manager will email you to inform you of the exact date of payment. In some cases, particularly in large scale capital bids we will not release funds until we are sure that building works are due to commence or that funding is required immediately.

It is advisable that you do not approach the Charity again for at least two years.

No. We can only award grants to registered charities.

We will consider proposals from national organisations that are delivering a service in the Charity’s beneficial area that is not currently being provided by a local Charity. Proposals are considered on a case by case basis and it is necessary that you provide information on your connections in the borough including those with local community organisations and/or schools you currently work with. We will not fund national organisations with no track record and reputation in the Charity’s beneficial area.

Education. Which is consistent with the Founder's own expressed interests. Over 100 state primary and secondary schools have benefited.

Yes, we are happy to fund existing projects. We are unable, however, to give grants as direct replacements for the withdrawal of funds by statutory authorities for activities which are primarily the responsibility of central or local government.

In some exceptional circumstances fixed-term grants may be eligible for renewal depending on changing circumstances, records of achievements, and the availability of funds. This is up to the discretion of the Trustee and is handled on a case by case basis. Usually, after a funding period there should be a pause in funding of at least two years.

After the end of the grant period, which is one year after you have received your final payment, you must wait at least 18 months before you can reapply.

No, we do not support research based projects. Please see the list of Exclusions in our Funding Guidelines.

The Charity is only able to fund projects that are for the benefit of the inhabitants of the nine London boroughs in our beneficial area. If your project straddles the boundary of our beneficial area we are happy to assess your proposal but funding will be proportional to the numbers of users that come from within our area. For example, if 50% of users are from Camden and 50% from Islington, any funding proposal must be targeted to those users from Camden and show other sources of income for those users who are from Islington. Applications will always be assessed on a case by case basis. Priority is usually given to charities who are based in the beneficial area.