As an independent grant making trust, our funding enables charities and education providers to help young Londoners fulfil their potential.
Our Multi-Step Application Process
We understand that applying for funding is time consuming, which is why we operate a two stage application process.
First Step – Eligibility. Check your organisation's eligibility for a grant by using our Eligibility Quiz. Please also read our grant making priorities and feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Second Step – Initial Enquiry. Complete and submit the first stage of your application by completing the online Initial Enquiry form with the help of our handy Guidance Sheet.
Third Step – Questions. If there are any aspects of your application that we want to know more about, or need a bit of clarification on, we'll aim to contact you within four weeks.
Fourth Step – Stage Two. If we think your project is a good fit for our funding, we'll invite you to submit a second stage application.
Fifth Step – Introductions. We'll follow up on your second stage application. At this point, we might also want to arrange a visit to your organisation to help us understand your proposal and your project's outcomes. This is also an excellent opportunity to introduce ourselves to each other and explain our work.
Sixth Step – Committee. The Grants Team will present your application to our Grants Committee for a decision.
What we won't normally fund:
- Projects that do not meet our stated funding priorities
- General fundraising campaigns or appeals
- Supplementary schools
- Youth and community groups
- Costs for equipment or salaries that are the statutory responsibility of education authorities
- Costs to substitute for the withdrawal or reduction of statutory funding
- Costs for work or activities that have already taken place prior to the grant application
- Costs already covered by core funding or other grants
- Capital costs that are exclusively for the purchase, repair or furnishing of buildings, purchase of vehicles, computers, sports equipment or improvements to school grounds.
Please note, applying for funding is a competitive process and our grants budget is limited. Because of the high volume of applications received, good projects sometimes have to be refused, even if they meet one of our priorities. All applications are assessed on merit.
Is my organisation eligible?
Find out if your organisation is eligible to apply for funding by taking our short quiz.
Take quizOur criteria
Beneficiaries of your project must:
- Be under the age of 25
- Come from low income or disadvantaged backgrounds and
- Permanently live in one of our named inner London boroughs.*
Your project must also address at least one of our six stated grant making priorities.
*We work across the 14 boroughs that make up inner London: Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster and the City of London.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can we apply for?
We don't have a minimum or maximum grant amount that can be applied for. Sometimes we fund projects in their entirety, while other times we support a proportion of a project's costs and look for match funding. We recommend applicants look through our list of recent grants to better understand the types of projects we support.
Can you offer feedback if my application is declined?
Unfortunately, we’re unable to give feedback on unsuccessful applications due to the high number of applications we receive. We try to make our guidelines and website as clear as possible to help you to know if you're eligible and to help you include all the information we need to make an informed decision.
Typical reasons for applications being declined include:
* Applying for work which similar organisations are delivering in the same area as you
* Applications that don't include vital information we'd need to make an informed decision about your work and its impact
* Unclear applications that don't explain what you do, why it's needed and what difference you're making
* Financial constraints, including our budget limitations or the costs of the project
How long does it take for an application to be assessed?
It can take six months or longer for an application to progress from submitting a stage one application to receiving an award, depending on the time of year, the number of applications we receive and the grants budget available.
Our Grants Committee usually consider applications at three meetings per year, in March, June and October. We can't guarantee that your application will be considered at any specific meeting and recommend applying around six months in advance, for example completing your first stage application in October for it to have a chance to be considered at the March Grants Committee.
With this in mind, please ensure you leave plenty of time before your project is due to start.
How likely is it that my application will be successful?
We don't publish success rates, as these vary year on year depending on the number of applications received and the grants budget available. Each application is assessed on its own merit, and we take into consideration how closely it meets our stated priorities for grant making.
Our application was turned down, how soon can we reapply?
Unsuccessful organisations must wait a minimum of 12 months from the date their application was declined before reapplying. Any additional applications received during these 12 months won't be considered.
If we're awarded a grant, how do we report our progress to you?
We use progress reports to find out how the work we're funding is going and to understand how it's making progress towards our aims.
Your report will cover your projects progress towards the agreed outcomes, established with your organisation at the time of your application. It should make reference to the agreed indicators, milestones and outcomes.
Once we've agreed funding, organisations are expected to provide both an interim report and a final report.
Progress reports are usually due every twelve months. Please remember that if you're awarded a multi-year grant, payment of subsequent instalments will be dependent upon receiving a satisfactory report.
We provide online templates for you to complete, but we welcome additional documentation in support of your progress.
We know that reporting can be difficult, but our Grants Team are here to help so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need to.
Please take a look at our Monitoring and Evaluation Policy.
