Garfield Weston Foundation

Background

The Garfield Weston Foundation was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston, a Canadian businessman who arrived in the UK with his family in 1932. He was the creator of Associated British Foods and the Foundation was endowed with the donation of family owned company shares.

The Foundation aims to 'be responsive to where need is greatest' and therefore supports a wide range of charitable activity across fields including the arts, community, education, environment, youth, faith, health, welfare, museums and heritage.

The Foundation donates more than £90 million per year, with almost 2,000 charities from across the UK receiving funding.

Objectives of Fund

The Foundation awards grants for capital, project and revenue costs to UK registered charities working within the UK in the areas of Welfare, Youth, Community, Arts, Faith, Environment, Education, Health and Museums & Heritage.

Value Notes

The Foundation offers two levels of funding, which can be used towards capital, revenue or project costs:

• Regular Grants of up to £100,000.
• Major Grants of £100,000 and above. (When awarding major grants, the Foundation typically expects the project and organisation's overall annual income to be in excess of £1 million.)

Typically grants are made for a single year; however, the Trustees may consider a multi-year request for up to three years for previously successful applicants, provided they can demonstrate that a longer term commitment will add value to their organisation’s objectives.

Match Funding Restrictions

Match funding is required. The Foundation recommends that applicants have around half of their funding identified before applying. Grants tend to be for 10% to 20% of the applicant's total project costs.

Who Can Apply

Applications will be accepted from:

• UK registered charities.
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations
• Exempt and excepted under Charity Commission guidance

To be eligible, applicants must have at least one year’s worth of annual accounts and submit one of the following:

• Their annual accounts, independently audited or examined
• A copy of their Charity Commission annual return.

Location

United Kingdom

Restrictions

The following are not eligible for support:

• Individuals.
• Community Interest Companies (CICs).
• Community Benefit Societies.
• Social enterprises.
• Local authorities and councils.
• Sporting associations without UK Charity Commission registration.
• Work that does not deliver a direct benefit in the UK, even if the organisation is registered with the Charity Commission.
• Animal rescue organisations or animal shelters, ie welfare charities where the main focus of their work is the welfare of animals. However, applications will be accepted from charities where the main beneficiaries are vulnerable or disadvantaged people and where animals form part of a robust therapeutic process.
• Charities that spend most of their income outside of the UK.
• Organisations with unrestricted reserves covering more than 12 months' expenditure.
• One-off events such as galas or festivals, even if for fundraising purposes.
• Short-term events that only run for a few weeks.
• Sponsorship.
• Feasibility studies.
• Activity that takes place overseas, including overseas trips and emergency appeals.
• Rescue and emergency organisations and services.
• Public works of art or monuments.
• Organisations that do not yet have a track record of service delivery or that have not yet produced accounts.
• Campaigning, lobbying and awareness-raising activity.
• Endowment appeals.
• Operating/core costs for hospices. (Hospices can apply for funding to support major capital developments or discrete projects such as piloting new services.).

Eligible Expenditure

The funding is for organisations working in the areas of welfare, youth, community, arts, faith, environment, education, health, and museums and heritage.

The grants are to be used for one of three areas:

• Operating/core costs to help with the general costs of running the organisation, such as helping to pay bills or rent and provide support towards salaries.
• Capital projects to help with building works or repairs, or equipment that is necessary for the organisation’s work.
• Projects/specific activities which will have a defined scope of work and timetable.

Projects should fall within at least one of the following categories:

• Arts - Support for a wide range of organisations (from small community theatre groups to national arts galleries) that engage with a variety of audiences and that can demonstrate their impact and quality.
• Community - A large volume of grants are made every year to community projects, many of which rely on the time and goodwill of volunteers. The majority of projects tend to be relatively small compared to other categories due to their local grass-roots nature, and correspondingly the grants made tend to be smaller in comparison. Typical projects supported include revenue grants for volunteering schemes and capital grants for the restoration of village halls and community centres and for facilities to support community life.
• Education - Grants to support education, from small local projects such as reading schemes and after school clubs, to major institutions such as universities.
• Environment - Grants to support a range of environment projects ranging from organisations that raise public awareness of, and find solutions to, specific issues such as sustainable fishing, in addition to charities that undertake active conservation work.
• Faith - Grants to support simple but practical projects that enable religious buildings to be used for an inclusive range of charitable purposes by their local communities. Capital grants include funds towards the installation of basic amenities such as lavatories and kitchen facilities and for restoration works to historic church buildings.
• Health - Grants range from specialist care homes and hospices, charities specialising in the treatment and support for specific illnesses, to translational research focusing on medical breakthroughs that will benefit generations now and in the future.
• Museums and Heritage - Grants to support organisations that conserve and interpret the nation’s heritage for future generations, ensuring it is accessible and available to all.
• Welfare - Grants for charities that work with a variety of causes and groups including the elderly, homeless, disability and special needs and those in the criminal justice system. Grants made reflect a charity’s size and the nature of the work or project being undertaken.
• Youth - Grants for charities that consistently demonstrate the commitment of volunteers and professionals across the country to support and inspire young people to achieve their potential. This includes small local groups, such as girl guides and youth clubs to larger national youth development charities.

The funding is for projects or work that has not finished and is not due to finish within four months of the organisation submitting an application.

How To Apply

The guidelines, faqs, eligibility quiz and online application form can be found on the Foundation's website. Groups should read the guidelines before starting the application process.

Applications for a Regular Grant of less than £100,000 may be made at any time throughout the year and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. There are no deadlines. It takes around four months from the time an application is received to notification of a decision.

Major Grants cannot be applied for via the Foundation’s website. Instead, applicants should email a one page summary to Grants Assistant Ciara Molloy (cmolloy@garfieldweston.org) outlining what they are raising funds for, the total cost and fundraising target. They will then be given bespoke guidance on whether they are eligible. Charities applying for £100,000 or more are expected to have an annual income in excess of £1 million.

Applicants must wait a full year before applying again. The year is calculated by the date of the Garfield Weston Foundation email letting them know whether or not their previous application was successful.

Contact the Garfield Weston Foundation for further information.