Funders Spotlight - The Tudor Trust
*** COVID-19 update: The Coronavirus outbreak continues to have a major impact on voluntary and community groups, and the individuals and communities they support. Many of the groups we support are already working in different ways and are continuing to change and adapt in response to changing circumstances. Our grants managers made contact with all our grant holders over the last week and have been moved and impressed by their commitment to their communities and the creativity and thoughtfulness of their responses.
We are still open for non-emergency applications from organisations we are not currently supporting. Our trustees want to provide support to voluntary and community groups in the medium term, beyond this first emergency phase, as they focus on how they might carry their work forward. We will be assessing applications against our usual criteria – so prioritising smaller-scale organisations working with marginalised individuals and communities in a responsive and relationship-based way.
Full update here ***
The Tudor Trust makes grants and provides other types of support to voluntary and community groups working in any part of the UK; in particular with smaller, under-resourced, community-led organisations that work directly with people at the margins of society, in ways that encourage inclusion, integration and independence. The trustees are particularly interested in supporting work that develops and promotes the social connections and relationships which make such an important contribution to wellbeing and quality of life, and strengthen communities.
The trust wants to respond flexibly to the ideas and energy of community-led groups. This flexibility means that it can support organisations in transition, whether they are entering a period of growth and development or are responding creatively to challenging circumstances.
The trust is much more likely to fund groups with an annual income of less than £1 million and, in practice, the majority of organisations it supports are much smaller than this.
Because the trustees try to respond to the needs identified by organisations themselves, many grants take the form of core funding; sometimes unrestricted funding. Project grants, capital grants for buildings or equipment and grants to help strengthen an organisation may also be offered. In some situations, short term loans may be considered if this is the most helpful solution.
There is no maximum or minimum grant, though it is rare for the trust to make a grant for £10,000 or less. Grants tend to be made over one, two or three years. The trust also engages with groups it supports in other ways, offering advice and development support where needed.
While the trust will only fund work that is charitable, applicants don’t have to be registered charities, provided they have a constitution and a bank account. Eligible groups include registered charities, unincorporated associations, community interest companies and industrial and provident societies.
During 2017-2018, 328 grants were made totalling £17.8 million. The average grant was £54,342. In the North East, 24 grants were made, totalling £1.03 million.
Tudor has no deadlines. There is a two-stage application process and all material is available on the website. Applicants are encouraged to call the trust on 020 7727 8522 to ask any questions before applying.
After receiving an application, the trust will send an email to confirm it has arrived safely and aims to let groups know within a month whether the application has progressed to the second stage. Once an application gets to the second stage it usually takes around three months to receive a final decision. So, on average, it takes around four months for a grant to be approved. Note that only one in every 10 applications goes from first to second stage.