At a glance:
◽ Grants of up to £5,000 available
◽ Applications open annually (check banner above for more information)
◽ Open to small UK charities (see below for more details) working to improve the lives of disadvantaged children, young people, families and adults living in the UK
If you tick all these boxes, you could be just what we are looking for!
✅ UK registered charity operating solely within the UK (not a CIC). Your organisation must be registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and/or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland; or qualify as a charity under the law of England and Wales, but not required to register with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
✅ Annual income of approximately £100,000 or less, or a larger charity looking for funding to support a defined operational area having an annual income of approximately £100,000 or less.
✅ Working with children, young people, families or adults who are disadvantaged due to ill-health, disability or circumstance to improve their lives.
✅ Committed to the continuous development of your charity and providing support or services in the most effective way possible.
✅ Interested in developing a supportive relationship with a small and friendly funder to explore other ways we can help you to work towards your goals.
❌ Any organisation that has previously submitted a proposal where the applicant failed the Charity Trustees' due diligence checks and the issues identified at that time have not been addressed is not eligible to apply.
❌ Any organisation that has been awarded a grant by Gilly's (The Gillian Stevenson Charitable Trust CIO) in the previous 12 months is not eligible to apply.
✅ Running costs of a new or existing service or programme
✅ Specific projects designed to provide long-term benefits to significant numbers of individuals
❌ We don't fund salary costs for individuals
❌ We don't provide grants to pay for one-off events
❌ We don't fund capital costs unless this is directly related to the funded project, service or activity and you can demonstrate how the items will be used after the funding period ends
You can have a look at examples of charities and activities that we have previously funded here to get a feel for what we do.
We open for applications approximately once per year but don't have a set schedule for this so keep an eye out for notifications on our website, social media and funding network communications.
Does the application form have to be completed in one sitting?
No! Once you have started the form you will be able to save your progress and return as many times as you need to edit and add information until you click on 'submit'.
How long will we have to wait to find out if we are successful?
We understand that many smaller charities rely on acquiring funding to keep functioning so our aim is always to keep you informed at every stage to help with your planning. After you have submitted your application, we will carry out initial checks to make sure you are eligible. We aim to do this within a couple of weeks of receiving your application and will let you know the outcome of this in an email.
If you are not eligible, we will let you know why. If you are eligible, we will confirm the date of the grants panel meeting when your application will be considered. You would then normally expect to hear the outcome within a couple of weeks of the meeting and, if successful, you will receive our formal offer. Once we receive the completed documents, we will transfer funds as quickly as possible so you can get on with doing what you do best.
Can we contact you if we have a question before submitting our application?
Of course! The best way to get in touch with us is by email (info@gillianstevensontrustuk.org) and we will do our best to answer any queries you have.
We want to maximise our chances of being successful. Do you have any advice on how to make our application stand out?
We fund a wide range of charitable organisations for a wide range of purposes so every application will be unique! The application form is designed to be flexible so you can include the information that is relevant to your situation. We aren't interested in pages of data and detail but we do want to see that you are truly passionate about what you do, have a real understanding of what your beneficiaries need and how best to deliver this and can explain how you would use the funding and what difference it would make. Making sure you attach all documents that we ask for on the application form will also speed the process up.
We are particularly interested in identifying small charities that are doing something just that little bit different or are at a pivotal point in their development and exploring how Gilly's could support you in taking the next step.
PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL APPLICATION FORM. THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED TO HELP YOU PREPARE YOUR SUBMISSION. PLEASE EMAIL info@gillianstevensontrustuk.org TO REQUEST A LINK TO THE ONLINE FORM.
* Indicates a required response
About you
Name of your organisation *
Correspondence Address *
Website address
Main contact *
Position *
Email *
Telephone
Please select your organisation type *
Registered charity
Charitable company (registered with the Charity Commission or equivalent in Scotland or NI)
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Excepted charity (income below threshold/ educational establishment/ church)
How many trustees, directors, committee/governing body members does your organisation have? *
How many employed staff? *
How many volunteers? (excluding any listed above) *
About your project, service or activity
What type of funding are you asking for? *
To make a one-off purchase of equipment
To fund a new project/service/activity
To fund the continuation of a project/service/activity that you are already providing
Please describe the project, service or activity you are asking us to fund in one or two sentences *
Why is this project, service or activity needed? How do you know? *
Why are you the right people to do the work? *
Who will benefit from this project, service or activity? *
How many people do you think will/already benefit from the project, service or activity? *
What difference will/does your project, service or activity make to the lives of those involved? (You may include anonymised case studies if you think this will help us understand) *
How will/do you evaluate the success of your project, service or activity? *
Tell us about the timeline for your project. (Depending on the type of funding you are asking for and your circumstances, this may be ongoing or you may have a target start date, payment deadline or anticipated end date.) *
What would you say is the biggest challenge your organisation is currently facing? (For instance, what do you know needs to happen/be in place for you to develop/expand/improve the services you offer but you currently lack the funds/resources/time/expertise to make it happen?)
What is the total cost of your project, service or activity? *
How do you know your budget is realistic? *
How much are you asking us for? *
If you are asking for less than the total cost, please tell us where the rest of the funding is coming from and when you hope that will be secured.
Please give a rough breakdown of the costs involved
Does your organisation have a bank account? *
Yes
No
If your organisation doesn't have a bank account, please explain who will hold the funds you are requesting.
Where did you hear about Gilly's?
We will require some addition documentation to complete your application. Please upload these into box below and tick to confirm which you have submitted.
Governing document/constitution (required)
Most recent audited or authorised statement of accounts (required)
Most recent bank statement (required) - this must be dated within the last 3 months and show the current balance. This request falls in line with GDPR requirements as part of our financial due diligence checks and any payments made to individuals may be redacted.
Your Safeguarding Policy if your work involves children and young people or vulnerable adults (dependent on organisation)
Any photographs or additional documents that you want to share (optional - please ensure you have the permission of any individuals to share their images/details or anonymise these first. By ticking the box, you are confirming you have their permission.)
If there is any other information you would like us to know, please add this here.