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 aim to keep the application process as simple and efficient as possible. To help us do this, we only accept applications via our online form. Please send an email stating the name of your organisation to info@gillianstevensontrustuk.org and you will be sent a link to the application form. We understand how important financial planning and fundraising is for charities so once you have submitted your completed application, we will be in touch to let you know what to expect in terms of the timeline of our decision-making process (see the FAQ section below for more information on timings).

If you have accessibility issues and find the online form difficult to complete, please get in touch using the email address above and we will work with you to provide an alternative way to complete the form.

The questions that we ask on the application form can be found in the collapsible section below. You may find it easier to gather and prepare this information first before starting to complete the online form. 

Our Privacy policy is available by clicking on the tab at the top of the page. This explains how we will use and store any data that you give us as part of the grant-making process.

If your application is successful, we will ask you to sign a grant agreement, we transfer funds and then arrange a time that suits you for an informal chat. 

By making a decision to support your charitable organisation with a grant, we consider this to be just the start of the relationship. Throughout the funding period, our intention is to go on the journey alongside you by learning more about what you do, the challenges you face and the vision you have for the future so we will keep in regular contact to explore additional ways we can offer support. This could be anything from using our existing networks to raise awareness of what your organisation offers to researching potential solutions to problems on your behalf - we can't promise to have the answers to everything but we will use our skills, knowledge and contacts to offer additional support where we can.

When can I apply?

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?)

About the funding

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.