These are the criteria we use to determine your eligibility for funding.

Who can apply?

Who is eligible to apply:

  • Registered charities including Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
  • Constituted voluntary organisations
  • Community Interest Companies (without shares/dividends)
  • ‘Start-up’ organisations* with a bank account (in the name of the organisation), a constitution and income/expenditure projections
  • Individuals promoting schemes that deliver benefits to other people/the wider community

Who is NOT eligible to apply:

  • Organisations with an annual turnover of more than £500,000 in the existing or preceding 2 years
  • Organisations with more than 2 years of operating reserves (unless there is an acceptable reason for it)
  • Branches of larger organisations
  • Commercial or ‘for-profit’ organisations
  • Religious or political organisations
  • Individuals seeking funding for their own benefit
  • Schools and statutory organisations
  • Projects affiliated with the teaching work of Andrew Cohen. Please refer to our background page

Area of benefit

Our charity fund applies to a specific area of benefit. Both applicants and those receiving benefit must be within these countries:

  • UK
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Holland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Ireland
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland

Please also note that:

  • Preference will be given to applicants and projects within the UK
  • Applicants must comply with UK Charity Commission regulations and any local country requirements

Length and limits of funding

Applications can be for 1 year or less. Your project can span multiple years but we will consider 1 year of funding at a time. You are welcome to apply again for subsequent years (even if you were unsuccessful in year 1) but even if you have been successful, we cannot guarantee that you will be funded again for the same application. All applications are considered in each round on their merits and in the light of all other applications. (You can read more about this in the FAQ section.)

If your project will last slightly longer than a year, say 14 or 16 months, then please contact us for advice on how best to present your application.

We would like to make it clear that our funding will not cover the following:

  • Projects that cost more than £100,000 in any given year
  • Projects that have already started or that are committed to by way of contract, before the application is considered
  • Continuation of existing projects, unless the element being applied for is clearly new and different
  • Applications which are simply/predominantly to make a contribution to the organisation’s overheads/running costs, also known as ‘core costs’
  • Applications that involve the further distribution of the funds by the applicant as in the form of grants
  • Applications from individuals that are mainly/significantly for the applicant’s own benefit
  • Capital expenses (i.e. building costs/purchase of large equipment)

If you have any uncertainty if any of your costs are eligible or not, please ask our Grants Enquiries team.

Amount of grants and number of applications

Organisations can apply for grants of: minimum £5,000 and maximum £25,000 per year.

Individuals can apply for grants of: minimum £1,000 and maximum £10,000 per year.

There is a maximum amount of grant that any one applicant can receive during the life of the fund. This is set at the following amounts:

  • Annual maximum grant multiplied by the number of years of fund operation e.g. if the maximum annual grant is £25k (for organisations) and £10k (for individuals) and the fund operates over 3 years, the maximum grant for any organisation is £75k (£25k x 3) and for any individual is £30k (£10k x 3).

If your project spans more than one year, the maximum grant that you can apply for can be multiplied pro-rata by the number of years/months that the project lasts.

Applicants can only submit one application at any given time.

Applicants cannot apply on behalf of another project until they have reached the satisfactory completion of their existing grant. (See FAQ section for more on this.)

Applicant’s contribution to costs (match funding)

Grants can be for 100% of the eligible costs of the project, so it is not required that you provide any other financial contribution i.e. no match funding is required.

At the same time, in assessing your application any self-help and commitment to the project along the lines of other grants, volunteer support, free equipment/materials, etc. will be viewed very positively.

Eligible and ineligible costs

Here are some examples of typical eligible project costs:

  • Facilitator/leader/coach/staff expenses and/or wages1
  • Facility hire
  • Minor equipment and materials used in the project
  • Larger items of ‘non-fixed’ equipment up to a value of £1,500 (not IT or AV)
  • Volunteer expenses
  • Marketing and promotion
  • Relevant insurances
  • Relevant training
  • Monitoring and evaluation of the project
  • A fixed contribution to organisational overheads or a calculation of Full Cost Recovery2

The following are examples of costs that are not normally eligible:

  • Capital costs (any building works or physical items costing over £1,500)
  • General running costs (with the exception of allowable contribution to overheads or FCR, see below)
  • Purchase of vehicles
  • Purchase of personal clothing/equipment
  • Film/AV equipment
  • IT equipment and software
  • Travel (with the exception of volunteer expenses and travel costs that are inherent to the nature or delivery of the project)
  • Accommodation
  • Meals, subsistence and catering e.g. food and drinks
  • Fundraising
  • Maintenance and repairs

1 Salaries and staff payments must not be less than the minimum wage in the country that the person is being paid/working in, but we would also have to see them as being ‘reasonable’ and providing ‘value for money’. (There is more on this in the FAQs).

2 Overheads and Full Cost Recovery (FCR) – We recognise that a contribution to organisational overheads can be important. In light of this, organisations can opt to recover overheads via either of 2 methods:

  • Simple method. Applicants can apply for a contribution to their overheads of up to 10% of their project costs when submitted with a simple, costed ‘overheads’ rationale.
  • To apply for FCR of a larger sum/percentage, applicants will need to provide a specific calculation. We can advise you on this.