General Application Guidelines

Applications for the general grant round are currently closed. Please do not send in an application for this round until 1st May 2020, as our guidelines will be changing shortly. The current deadline for applications for this round is 31st July 2020.

From October 2019 Trustees will only make grants towards core costs rather than specific projects as they recognise that smaller charities can find these hard to fund. This will hopefully mean that any grant given will have a more direct impact on the organisation concerned.

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 £3,000.

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 also like to refer to our previous Annual Reports, available on our website, which will give you more of an idea of both the type of organisation supported and the amount awarded.

Please note that we DO NOT fund unsolicited applications from charities whose annual income exceeds £300,000 or an organisation that has more than six months running costs in its unrestricted reserves. We will also NOT fund unsolicited applications from the following:

• Charities registered overseas
• Construction projects such as playgrounds, village halls, and disabled accesses
• Educational fees
• General school appeals
• Hospices
• Individuals in any capacity
• Medical research
• Parish facilities
• Playgroups and pre-school groups
• Requests for vehicles

Funding Priorities

Trustees will consider applications for core costs which will achieve a positive impact in at least one of the following areas:

• Arts outreach work by local groups involving disadvantaged people;
• Children and young people who are isolated, at risk of exclusion or involved in anti-social behaviour and in particular organisations that work to discourage individuals getting involved in gangs or violent behaviour;
• Disability projects, which can include rehabilitation and training for people who are either physically or learning disabled as well as charities supporting mental health issues, particularly where it relates to our other priority areas;
• Disadvantaged women and their children, covering refuges and domestic violence shelters and groups;
• Disadvantaged families including parenting support;
• Prisoners and ex-offenders and specifically projects that help the rehabilitation and resettlement of prisoners and/or ex-offenders as well as requests to help prisoners’ families;
• Projects that promote integration and community cohesion particularly amongst minority groups, refugees and traveller communities.

Types of grants

The Trustees make two types of grants – smaller grants of under £3,000, usually around 100 grants per year; and larger grants of over £3,000, usually no more than 5-8 per year and almost always to charities already known to the Trustees.

The Trustees favour small-scale, locally based initiatives and most grants are only for one year.

In addition, 60-70 grants of £250-£1,000 per year are made towards Children’s Summer Playschemes. Applications for these are made separately and considered in April/May each year, grants are only given to charities whose annual income is under £100,000.

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.

Application Process

As well as registered charities we will consider funding Charity Incorporated Organisations (CIOs) and Community Interest Companies (CICs).

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 on the website.

APPLICATION FORM – Please complete the information requested and give us details on what the primary objectives of your charity are and who are your target users. Any details of specific projects that have been successful or details on the successful outcomes for your users are welcome. Please note that we are looking for charities that make a difference in their communities and who stand out in the work that they do.

Participation by past or current users is welcome, and should be mentioned, as is sharing best practice and cross community work. We want to know what you do and what you are proud of in the area in which you work. We like to award grants to charities that are really making a difference and whose users are able to progress as appropriate, statistics or numbers that support that are welcome when you complete the projected outcomes. Please note that a list of other supporters or grant applications is not required.

You are asked to keep the grant application form to one page (two sides of A4), 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 and note if you have been a past beneficiary of the Woodward Charitable Trust.

If you would like an application form sent electronically, please email Karin Hooper at contact@woodwardcharitabletrust.org.uk.

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.

Annual Report and Accounts

To reduce the carbon footprint of our application process, please do not send us your Annual Report & Accounts unless they are unavailable on the Charity Commission Website and are subsequently requested by the administrator.

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. If you would like any clarification on this, please contact the administrator. Please note the trustees are unlikely to fund any 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.

Budget

Please provide your approved budget for the year or a set of management accounts in headline form only.

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.

Please either return the completed application form by post to:

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.