General Application Guidelines
It is recommended that all applicants take time to read these guidelines in order to avoid submitting applications that are likely to be rejected. You may like to refer to our previous Annual Reports which will give you more of an idea of both the type of organisation supported and the amounts awarded. Only if you think your project falls within our criteria should potential applicants telephone the administrator, Karin Hooper on 020 7410 0330, to seek further advice if you are still unclear about the grant-making criteria in the following guidelines. Before you call please have your charity registration number to hand. Trustees are keen to spare charities the wasted time and costs involved in applying when there is no prospect of success. Please note that only about 15% of applicants are successful and the majority of grants are for less than £5,000.
Applications will only be considered if they fall within the following areas:
- Children and young people who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in anti-social behaviour.
- Prisoners and ex-offenders. Projects that help the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners and/or ex-offenders are supported as well as requests to help prisoners’ families
- Disadvantaged women, covering refuges, domestic violence and parenting.
- Disability projects, which can include rehabilitation and training for people who are either physically disabled or learning disabled.
- Arts outreach work by local groups involving disadvantaged people.
- Projects that promote integration and community cohesion amongst minority groups, including refugees and travellers.
The amounts awarded in each category are available in our annual report.
Exclusions
Trustees DO NOT fund unsolicited applications from charities whose annual income exceeds £300,000 or for:
- Construction projects such as playgrounds, village halls, and disabled accesses
- General school appeals including out of hours provision
- Hospices
- Medical research
- Parish facilities
- Playgroups and pre-school groups
- Requests for vehicles
- Individuals in any capacity
- Educational fees
Trustees review grant applications twice a year, usually in March and October. Please consult the diary page for up-to-date deadlines for receipt of applications.
Types of grants
- Small grants, £100-£5,000 (around 100 grants made per year).
- Large grants, over£5,000 (around 5 grants are made per year). Large grants are only given to charities known to the Trustees.
- Children’s summer playscheme grants £500-£1,000 (about 50-70 grants made per year). Applications for these are made separately and considered in April each year. The charities annual income should be under £100,000.
The Trustees favour small-scale, locally based initiatives. Funding is primarily for one-off projects, but the Trustees are also willing to fund core costs. Most grants are only for 1 year.
Application forms
Trustees will only consider appeals made on their own application form and every section must be completed including the Statement of Financial Activities. The general application form and the Children’s Summer Playscheme Application Form are both available in the application forms section of this website. If you would like an application form sent electronically, please email Karin Hooper at contact@woodwardcharitabletrust.org.uk.
You are asked to keep the grant application form to one page. It is not sufficient to answer, “see attached documents”. If supplementary information is sent this should be in addition to the information requested by the Trustees on their form. Please ensure you complete the amount required section. All applications must include a detailed project budget.
Please be clear when applying who your target users are, what your projected outcomes are and how many people will benefit from the grant. If this is a continuation of existing work what are your outcomes to date? If your request is for a one-off project, what will be its legacy? It is useful to know how successful your approach has been to date, particularly in relation to any public sector norms. In the current economic climate Trustees prefer to support ongoing projects and/or existing costs rather than new projects. Trustees are interested in helping smaller organisations that offer direct services and those that encourage cross community participation. Any participation by past or current users of the service should be mentioned and is encouraged. It should be noted that a lack of this information may prejudice your application.
We also request that you tell us the region in which you operate (i.e. Scotland, North East or West, Northern Ireland, Wales, Yorkshire & the Humber, East or West Midlands, East Anglia, London, South East or South West or the Channel Islands). This is in order for the trustees to try and ensure that they support applications from across the whole of the UK.
The amounts awarded in each category are available in our annual report on the website.
Annual Report and Accounts
To reduce the carbon footprint of our application process, please do not send us your Annual Report & Accounts with your initial application unless they are unavailable on the Charity Commission Website.
We are interested in how much you hold as “free” or unrestricted reserves; which is that part of your funds free from any constraints as to their use. (Please complete the Statement of Financial Activities section with care). If you would like any clarification on this, please contact the administrator either via email or via telephone. Please note the trustees are unlikely to fund organisation with more than six months running costs in their unrestricted reserves.
If your charity’s income is under £10,000 we will need to see evidence of your income and expenditure for the past year.
If your application passes the first round, we may contact you for further information.
Project Budget
All applications must include a detailed project budget. If your application is for a specific project, it would also be helpful to know where the balance of funds will come from. If you are applying for core costs, then please ensure that access to your accounts is available on the Charity Commission website or included with your application.
Safeguarding Policies
If you are applying for a grant where the beneficiaries (directly or indirectly) are under 18 years old, please send in your child protection policy or safeguarding policy with your application (preferably by email). Similarly, if you are working with vulnerable adults, please send the safeguarding policy via email only.
Please either return the completed application form by post:
Mrs Karin Hooper
The Woodward Charitable Trust
The Peak
5 Wilton Road
London
SW1V 1AP
OR
via email to: contact@woodwardcharitabletrust.org.uk
If you are sending an application in the post, please do NOT send duplicate copies via email. We only want one copy, please. Any exception to this may prejudice your application.