The purpose of this page is to let you know about other trusts and funding sources that might be interested in supporting your work. With the cooperation of FunderFinder we have identified a number of charitable trusts that:
- have websites or useful entries on guidestar.org.uk
- might be interested in funding work with homeless people in London.
The word 'might' is very important. All of these trusts have particular criteria. Some specifically say they are interested in homelessness projects. Some don't, but still might be worth approaching if your project meets their objectives (improving the health of Londoners or supporting young people at risk, for instance). Read their guidelines carefully. Whatever you do, don't just send off letters to every trust listed.
There will be other charitable trusts and foundations worth writing to that aren't listed - such as those that don't have websites or that don't have enough information on their guidestar.org.uk entry; or those that fund a wide range of social welfare needs in a specific part of London, but don't particularly mention homelessness; or those that only fund in a very small part of London.
There are other funders besides charitable trusts. Click here to find out more about other sources of information on trusts, other funders and fundraising.
The trusts listed below are shown in alphabetical order. There is, therefore, no indication of priority for those at the top of the list.
Santander Foundation. Whilst the foundation's priorities do not specifically mention homelessness, they fund local, regional and national charities for their work within the UK. The foundation is committed to helping disadvantaged people through their two charitable priorities. Formerly the Abbey Charitable Trust, the Foundation was set up in 1990 and has given more than £32 million to charities in the UK.
The Abel Charitable Trust. Originally supporting just those charities which addressed housing needs, the trust has now has expanded its giving to include projects helping offenders, young people, those with addiction problems and sex industry workers. It funds charities in southeast England and favours smaller agencies. Grants are usually in the region of £3,000-£5,000.
The Alexandra Trust. The trust gives grants to organisations which provide food and/or shelter for the homeless in the East End of London.
The Allan Charitable Trust. This trust gives priority to charities supporting young people and the homeless, with a special emphasis on those based in Islington.
The Archer Trust. This Christian grant-making trust gives grants of between £250 and £3,000 to small UK charities. It supports organisations which provide aid or support to a defined group of needy or deserving people, particularly those working in areas of high unemployment and deprivation, and favours charities which make good use of volunteers.
Big Lottery Fund. The fund has a large number of different progammes open at any one time. Some are only open for applications for a short period. Others, such as the Reaching Communities programme, have no closing date.
The Percy Bilton Charity. One of the trust's areas of funding is disadvantaged and under privileged young people. In particular it will fund supported housing schemes and educational and training projects to encourage disadvantaged young people who may be homeless and/or unemployed away from crime, substance/alcohol misuse and homelessness. There are two grant programmes - one for large grants for capital expenditure over £2,000, and a small grants programme for donations of up to £500 towards furnishings and equipment for small projects.
The Oliver Borthwick Memorial Trust. This trust gives modest grants (up to £5,000) to organisations which provide shelter and help for the homeless. It has a preference for deprived inner city areas.
The Cadbury Foundation. The foundation makes grants to projects working in the fields of education and enterprise, health and welfare and environmental sustainability, focusing on areas of social deprivation where their larger sites are located. In London this is Hackney and Uxbridge. Homelessness is listed as one of the supported issues.
Capital Community Foundation. One of the London community foundations, this covers south London. As with other community foundations it has a number of different funds available with different priorities and areas of benefit. Homelessness is not mentioned specifically but it is worth checking the website regularly for new grant streams.
The Chelsea Building Society Charitable Foundation. This foundation makes grants to registered charities operating within approximately 10 miles of a Chelsea Building Society branch office (of which there are quite a few in London). Homelessness is one of its priorities. Donations will normally be considered in the range of £250 to £5,000.
The Church Urban Fund. The Church Urban Fund has an annual grant-making budget of £3m. Grants are awarded to projects tackling poverty and marginalisation in the urban areas of England. The fund aims to benefit people who are socially, culturally, spiritually, environmentally and financially disadvantaged. CUF particularly supports churches in deprived areas reaching out to serve their local community, but the fund also welcomes applications from other faith groups. All applications must be made through the local diocesan co-ordinator.
City Bridge Trust. Part of the Corporation of London, this large fund makes grants to charitable projects which address disadvantage across Greater London. Homelessness is specifically mentioned under the mental health priority.
The Clothworkers' Foundation. This large trust funds in six programme areas: encouragement of young people, social inclusion, elderly, disability, visual impairment and textiles. The social inclusion programme specifically mentions homelessness. It has a main grants programme (for larger charities with a turnover of under £10m applying for a grant of over £1,000 for capital costs) and a small grants programme (for charities with an income of under £250,000 applying for a grant of between £500 and £10,000 for capital costs). It does not fund new charities with no track record.
Comic Relief. In the UK, the fund concentrates on work with: young people; mental health; refugees and asylum seeking women; domestic and sexual abuse, local communities and sport. An older people's programme will open in the near future.
Co-operative Community Fund. The Community Fund grants scheme works by committed members of The Co-operative Group, who want to help improve the lives of others, donating part or all of their share of the profits. The scheme can give grants of between £100 and £2,000 to projects in an area served by one of the Co-operative Group businesses. Projects must address a community issue; provide a good long-term benefit to the community; support co-operative values and principles and ideally be innovative in approach.
Cripplegate Foundation. This foundation funds widely across Islington. It does not specifically mention homelessness but its priorities are: reducing poverty, increasing access to opportunities, and social cohesion.
The Drapers' Charitable Fund.Funded by the Drapers' Company, the trust gives grants to improve the quality of life and expectations of people and their communities within the UK, particularly those disadvantaged or socially excluded. Homelessnes is one of its categories of giving under its relief in need programme, as is the social exclusion of young people in inner city London.
East Foundation. A subsidiary of the East Thames Group (housing association), the foundation gives grants to local initiatives in east London and Essex which support the mission of the East Thames Group. The main grants programme supports innovative, sustainable and capacity building projects within a number of geographical priority areas which are selected on an annual basis. The small grants programme has two funds, one of which (the Aspirations Fund) specifically mentions support for homeless adults, although they must live in East Thamse Group accommodation which includes foyer and supported housing.
East London Community Foundation. The community foundation for the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. It has a number of different funds available and although homelessness is not mentioned specifically it is worth checking the website regularly for new grant streams.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. This large trust supports work that focuses on cultural life, education, the natural environment and enabling people who are disadvantaged to participate more fully in society and is now more open and less prescriptive in its grantmaking than previously. The trust "does not fund work that is primarily the responsibility of central or local government, health trusts or health authorities.... This includes residential and day care, housing and homelessness..." However, it has made grants for work with homeless people which is not part of statutory provision.
J Paul Getty Junior Charitable Trust. This trust describes itself as "supporting unpopular causes". Most of its funding goes to social welfare which includes "homelessness, particularly projects which help prevent people becoming homeless or to resettle them". It prefers to fund small, local organisations run efficiently by enterprising people, supporting unpopular causes for which it is hard to raise funds. However, it is revising its funding guildelines and will not accept applications from 24 April 2009 until later in the summer. Check their website for further details.
The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity. The company gives widely to London-based or national charities. It does not fund individual housing associations or very large charities but its grants list includes grants to organisations working around the issue of homelessness.
Haberdashers’ Charitable Foundations. Help is given mainly to charities concerned with poverty relief. One of the trust's current focus areas is charities helping unemployed and homeless people to find jobs or improve their education or skills and to find more stable accommodation.
Help the Homeless. Makes grants to organisations which work to re-establish the single homeless into mainstream society. It mainly gives small grants of up to £3,000, for capital costs to small and medium-sized charities only. Grants to larger charities are only considered if the project is suitably innovative and it is only possible for a large organisation to develop it.
The Hilden Charitable Fund. This fund has four priorities, one of which is homelessness. They prefer to support work at a community level, rather than big national charities and are unlikely to give grants over £5,000.
Beatrice Laing Trust. The trust mentions homelessness in its annual report as one of the areas in which it gives grants. It funds both national and local organisations. The trust is administered alongside the Maurice and Hilda Laing Charitable Trust and the Kirby Laing Foundation. An application to any one of the three trusts, known collectively as the Laing Family Trusts, is treated as an application to all.
John Laing Charitable Trust. The trust's first priority is to former employees of John Laing plc who are in need. The remaining income is used to support charities that work in the areas of education; disadvantaged young people; community regeneration; environment; and homelessness with particular emphasis on day centres. The trust takes a pro-active role in seeking out charities that fit its criteria but it welcomes telephone enquiries.
Land Aid Charitable Trust. This is the charity of the UK property sector, from whom its support is drawn. It makes grants to support a variety of projects connected with homelessness and related causes. Small grants are made once a year to charities requiring a kick-start for a service or facility that would not otherwise get off the ground. The trust also funds a major project for up to four years.
Leathersellers' Company Charitable Fund. The company does not mention homelessness specifically, but funds broadly, within the categories of relief of need and children and young people, giving priority to charities in the London area, due to its long associations there.
Leeds Building Society Charitable Foundation. The foundation makes grants to charities working in areas near to its branches - there is one branch in London. It makes grants to community-based projects which aim to provide relief of suffering, hardship or poverty. Homelessness is mentioned as one of the areas which has been supported. Grants are normally for up to £1,000.
Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales. The trust's mission is to support charities working to tackle disadvantage. The focus is on supporting smaller underfunded charities that help people who are disadvantaged play a fuller role in the community of their choice. It is particularly interested in work that achieves this through: improved social and community development; improved life chances; or through helping people to be heard. Grants are given to assist groups to continue and develop existing community-based work, or to develop the organisation or its services.
The Mackintosh Foundation. Although almost half of the foundation's funds are given to theatrical, musical and dramatic arts, homelessness is one of its other listed areas of giving.
Merchant Taylors' Company Charities Fund. The company's charitable fund favours smaller charities rather than major national charities and those who can show they have their own or other resources so as not to become dependent upon grants made by the Company or its Trusts. Homelessness is one of the areas it supports. It has a preference for inner London, particularly Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Hackney and their environs.
The Peter Minet Trust. This trust funds social welfare, health and community projects in the inner city boroughs of South East London, especially Lambeth and Southwark. It has a small grants programme (up to £500) and a main grants programme (up to £3,000).
The Morris Charitable Trust. This trust particularly supports causes which alleviate social hardship and deprivation, including community uplifting organisations, urban regeneration, health care, the elderly and education. It has a preference for supporting causes within the Borough of Islington.
The Nationwide Foundation. The foundation's Homes Matter programme aims to support registered charities which address housing issues and homelessness among vulnerable groups in the UK, in particular amongst survivors of domestic abuse and older people.
North West London Community Foundation. This community foundation serves the London Boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow and Hillingdon. As with others, it has a number of specific funds available which have different priorities and areas of interest.
The Oak Foundation. This international foundation, based in Geneva, is a group of charitable and philanthropic organisations established in various countries. Its housing and homelessness programme focuses on the prevention of homelessness among identified vulnerable groups in certain regional “hot spots”. One of the hot spots is London. Grants are usuallly for over $25,000.
Odin Charitable Trust. The trust's guidelines show that it supports a wide range of charitable activities. Homelessness is listed as one of its preferred areas of giving.
Pret Foundation Trust. This trust was set up in support of the homeless. Its principal beneficiary is its own Pret Charity Run, but the trust also supports other charities that work with the homeless.
The Rose Foundation. The foundation is not interested in homelessness, but funds building projects across London. Grants, usually up to £10,000, are available to registered charities and the total cost of the project must be less than £200,000.
St Katharine and Shadwell Trust. This is the community foundation for the East End and City of London, covering the City of London and the Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham. As with others, it has a number of specific funds available which have different priorities and areas of interest. Check their website for current open programmes.
Mrs Smith and Mount Trust. The trust aims to assist disadvantaged people towards greater independence or a better quality of life and funds in south east England, including London. Homelessness is one of its priority areas.
Henry Smith's Charity. This large trust has a wide range of interests including "projects providing practical support for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness".
The Sobell Foundation. Homelessness is one of the foundation's particular interests. Their funding is concentrated on small national or local charities and about half of it goes to Jewish projects.
Sir Halley Stewart Trust. The trust has a Christian basis and concentrates its funding on innovative projects. It funds research, feasibility or pilot studies and development projects that are likely to improve the conditions of a particular group of people, as well as having wider implications. One such area is "helping people 'move beyond disadvantage'. Such projects might be concerned with the social and family aspects of unemployment, crime, homelessness and migration".
StreetSmart. StreetSmart raises funds for the homeless through the nation's leading restaurants in November and December each year. During those months a voluntary £1 per table is added onto customers' restaurant bills in each participating city. The money is collected by StreetSmart and distributed directly to charities, hostels and projects helping the homeless in that city. Projects should work progressively with their client group, helping the homeless to make a better life for themselves, focussing on mental and physical health, employability and sustainable independent living.
Thames Community Foundation. One of the London community foundations, this covers the boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth. The foundation has a number of different funds available to groups in the area which have different priorities and areas of interest. In particular the Adobe Community Investment Grants mention homelessness, but check their website as programmes change.
Trust for London. Formerly the sister trust of the City Parochial Foundation, Trust for London is their new name following the amalgamation of City Parochial Foundation and Trust for London in July 2010. Trust for London are a charitable organisation that exists to reduce poverty and inequality in London by funding the voluntary and community sector and others, as well as by using their own expertise and knowledge to support work that tackles poverty and its root causes.
Trusthouse Charitable Foundation. The Foundation's giving has two overarching themes, one of which is urban deprivation. It is interested in those areas that fall into the lowest 20% of government deprivation indices and funds community support projects in those areas. Homelessness is mentioned in its guidelines as an example of what might be funded.
The Tudor Trust. This large trust funds widely and does not focus on specific themes or programmes. Their guidelines state that "we aim to support work which addresses the social, emotional and financial needs of people at the margins of our society". The trust preferes to support smaller groups and those which: provide direct services to marginalised people; those with high levels of user involvement and those which address complex and multi-stranded, often difficult, problems in unusual or imaginative ways.
UIA Charitable Foundation. Funded entirely by donations from UIA (Insurance) Limited, the foundation supports small organisations that help people in need, where modest grants (rarely over £1,000) will make a real difference. The foundation funds projects which deal with: victims of domestic abuse, victims of drug and alcohol addiction and the rehabilitation of offenders.
Vintners’ Gifts Charity. The Vintners' Company concentrates on different sections of charitable giving every six months and will only respond to applications from charities in these sections during each period. The Elderly are the focus from May 2009; the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse/Drug Addiction from November 2009; and the Disabled from May 2010.
The Wates Foundation. The trust aims to improve the quality of life of the deprived, disadvantaged and excluded in the Greater London area. Their programme areas are: building family valuses; community health; safer communities; sustaining the environment; and strengthening the charitable and voluntary sectors. However, the foundation is not accepting any further applications until at least April 2010. Check their website for more details.
The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation. One of the foundation’s areas of funding is social exclusion and in the past it has supported projects concerned with homelessness. Eligible projects should ideally be innovative, focus on the disadvantaged and have lasting effects, or should consist of work (e.g. action research, pilot schemes) that would lead to such projects, and preferably be capable of replication if successful.
The Woodward Charitable Trust. This is one of the Sainsbury family trusts, but unlike most of the others, it gives small grants in response to open application. The trust favours small-scale, locally based initiatives, with a preference for one-off projects. Priority is given to causes which seem unpopular with public opinion and/or other funders. Homelessness, particularly affecting young people and women, and covering facilities such as women’s refuges, is one of its stated priority areas.
Yapp Charitable Trust. This trust is not specifically interested in homelessness. It makes smallish grants to registered charities with an annual expenditure of less than £60,000 working with: elderly people; children and young people; people with disabilities or mental health problems; or people trying to overcome life-limiting problems such as addiction, relationship difficulties, abuse, or a history of offending.
Find out more about other sources of information on trusts and fundraising.