Making an Application

This Trust is approachable and welcomes your queries. If you consider your work might fall within the Trust's grant-making policy, click here areas of interest to check: if in doubt do ring our helpful and experienced Secretary who is happy to help.

Understanding the process

1. The Trust funds one-off grants for capital expenditure or three-year grants for core costs (not capital expenditure) or project funding.

2. Ensure you have other sources of funding or can match any funding the Trust might provide (not applicable for capital grants). Audited accounts and detailed budgets will need to be submitted.

3. There is no typical grant as each application is considered on its own merits.

The Trustees can only consider applications from registered charities as registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales; OSCR in Scotland; and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. If your Church or place of worship is an excepted or exempted charity you can apply (click here for further information). Grants cannot be paid to umbrella bodies or to third parties.

On-going commitments, combined with the fact that the Trustees take an active role in identifying projects to support, means that it is not always possible to make grants in response to unsolicited applications.

The principle of matched funding (not applicable for capital grants) is very much part of any application - if in any doubt what this means please contact the Secretary. Please note the Trust is not a repeat or ongoing funder at the end of the funding term.

What is required

Applicants are invited to tell your meaningful story and mission in two sides of A4 paper (in portrait - font size 11). These two sides of A4 are reviewed by the Trustees and suggested areas include: What you are doing, Why you are doing it, What you aspire to do differently, What are your aspirations, Who it is benefiting from your missional outreach, and how will you ensure the sustainability of the work beyond Rank funding. Please do not import photographs into the 2 x A4 submission - they only photocopy black and white and add no value.

If your application is for a building project provide evidence of existing mission, how this mission will grow in the future, and confirm that the faculty has been granted and the Chancellor has granted permission to proceed (if appropriate) and planning permission has been secured (or a building warrant in Scotland).

A summary of budget and costings of the project (for revenue applications a three-year income and expenditure budget for the period that you are asking funding for) should be placed in an appendix to the 2 x sides of A4, including details of grant applications made to other external funders (this is so we can audit your application in order to signpost you to other funders).

You must enclose a copy of your most recent monthly management accounts and a copy of your most recent annual report and accounts (a full set, not just a selection of summary pages). A covering letter is expected to accompany your submission to confirm the details of the contact person: postal address, email address and telephone number.

Applications must be sent in hard copy (not by email) as we are not resourced to print them for you.

Other details

If you are a Methodist Church applying for funding, in addition to the requirements shown in points 1-3 at the top of this page, click here for further information.

The next Trustees meeting is in October 2023 - please send in your application after 1st July. Visits to applications may be made by the Secretary and Trustees.

Applications will be acknowledged when they have been assessed which may take a number of weeks. Applicants will be advised that if they do not receive a reply by a specified date has not been possible for the Trustees to make a grant. Applications are treated on a "first come, first served" basis.

Please note that it is not possible for the Trust to fund every application that is received.

(page last updated 17th April 2023)