The Dulverton Trust

Dulverton Trust Grants

An independent grant-maker supporting UK charities with national reach in youth opportunities, general welfare, conservation and heritage. Core costs and project costs are funded equally. The eligibility bar is high and unusually specific: applicants need annual income of at least £200,000, a maximum of £10 million, and reach across broad areas rather than one town or local authority. The Trust reports an average grant of £30,000-£40,000 a year.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: Amount not specified; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

UK charities or CIOs registered with the Charity Commission or OSCR, or holding exempt charity status
Annual income must be at least £200,000 and no more than £10 million — newly established charities under two years old are the only exception to the floor — and charities between £200,000 and £3 million get preference
Work must be in England outside Greater London, Scotland or Wales; in England the Trust prioritises charities operating across at least two regions, and in Scotland and Wales national reach
An organisation working in a single location or a single local authority is described as highly unlikely to be funded, and regional charities affiliated to national bodies are unlikely to succeed

What it funds

Youth Opportunities, the largest category, for work with people up to 25 that engages participants primarily on the basis of low income, builds life skills so they can progress into education, employment or training, and takes a strengths-based approach
General Welfare in communities with high levels of poverty:
Family relationships
Work with offenders and especially young offenders
Young homeless people
Active living and independence for older people
The welfare of carers
Social cohesion
Conservation of UK wildlife habitat, focused on trees and native woodlands and on coastal and marine environments
Heritage craftsmanship in traditional repair and restoration techniques, particularly heritage skills training benefiting a disadvantaged group

Core costs and project costs are funded equally; bursaries only within the heritage category.

What it will not fund

Individual schools, colleges and universities
Museums, galleries, libraries and heritage attractions
Hospices, hospitals and care homes
Individual churches
Organisations working only in Greater London or Northern Ireland

Also excluded: treatment of mental or physical illness and condition-specific services, advancement of religion other than cathedral programmes, arts and sport unless serving a stated priority, animal welfare, expeditions, overseas volunteering, conferences and events, capital projects and property purchase, repairs to places of worship, research not linked to priorities, campaigning and lobbying, retrospective funding, endowments, and re-granting.

Co-operatives, housing associations, individuals and primarily re-granting organisations are ineligible as applicant types.

How to apply

Complete the online eligibility quiz first; eligible applicants are then sent a link to an Expression of Interest form
A desk review follows, taking two to three weeks and sometimes requesting further financial and impact data, then a visit or online meeting, then a trustee sub-committee, and finally a decision at a Board meeting
The Trust welcomes initial enquiries by phone or email to establish eligibility before any of this

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