[WiLT] Trust for London - women's organisations encouraged to apply - 30th May 2009

[WiL Admin]

Trust for London - women's organisations encouraged to apply

Trust for London is an independent charitable trust set up in 1986 to
support small, new and emerging voluntary organisations which have
been established to improve the lives of people and communities in
London.  They believe that local people are often in the best position
to identify the problems that affect their lives and the possible
solutions to those problems.

Most of their grants are made through their open programme but they
also occasionally fund special initiatives.  They aim to develop
supportive relationships with the community and voluntary
organisations that they fund and to provide a 'funding-plus' approach.
'Funding-plus' includes providing advice, guidance, and where
appropriate, consultancy support and training to help organisations
grow and develop.

They work closely with their sister fund, City Parochial Foundation,
which supports organisations tackling poverty in London.  The
Foundation is operated by the same staff and trustees but has separate
funding guidelines.  These are available from their offices or on the
Foundation's Website: www.cityparochial.org.uk  They recommend that
you check carefully which fund is more appropriate to your
organisation as you can only apply to one.

They are not able to fund all small, new and emerging organisations
that apply to them.  They will therefore fund areas of work which have
one (or more) of the following aims: To challenge discrimination faced
by disabled people; To promote the inclusion and integration of
recently established communities; To strengthen mother-tongue and
supplementary schools to provide creative educational opportunities;
To address new and emerging needs.

You will need to demonstrate that all the criteria in their guidelines
apply to your organisation.

Please read these funding guidelines in full before making an
application to them. They highly recommend you visit their website
before submitting your proposal.  They update it on a regular basis,
outlining any changes made to these funding guidelines.  Their website
also includes a full list of recent grants they have made.

Each year they will make grants of approximately £650,000.  The
majority of this is spent on our open programme. The maximum you can
apply for is £15,000 per year, although the average grant will be
approximately £8,000 in total.  They will make grants for one, two or
three years.  They expect to make 50 grants each year.

In addition, they will also make a smaller number of grants to
organisations that want to increase their staffing levels in order to
make a step change in their development.  This may include making a
contribution towards the costs of a full-time post.

They will support project or core costs.  These costs may include
rent, volunteers' expenses and/or running costs.  They do not fund
large-scale capital projects but they can make small grants for
capital items such as the purchase of equipment.

They want to make sure that our funds reach the people who need them
most, especially those who are excluded and are particularly
disadvantaged and discriminated against.  Some of their work benefits
all communities in London, whilst others target particular groups.
These may include black and minority ethnic communities, asylum
seekers, refugees and migrants, young people, lesbians and gay men,
disabled people (including those with mental health issues) and
isolated white communities.  They therefore welcome applications from
these groups and others who are addressing new and emerging needs in
London.

They also recognise that women experience discrimination in different
ways and particularly encourage applications from women's
organisations.

In addition to the open programme, we also fund special initiatives
where they want to make a strategic impact.

Their aims are:
* To challenge discrimination faced by disabled people;
* To promote the inclusion and integration of recently established
communities;
* To strengthen mother-tongue and supplementary schools to provide
creative educational opportunities;
* To address new and emerging needs.

There are 3 deadlines a year:
(7 February for the June meeting;)
* 30 May for the October meeting; and
* 25 October for the February meeting.

Trust for London, 6 Middle Street, London EC1A 7PH
Website: http://www.cityparochial.org.uk/tfl/grants/