Forte Charitable Foundation (formerly Trusthouse Charitable Foundation)

Major Grants

Revenue grants from Forte Charitable Foundation (renamed from Trusthouse Charitable Foundation in June 2025) for small and medium local charitable organisations focused on family support in communities of extreme urban deprivation or deprived rural areas across the UK. Single-year grants are £10,000-£50,000; multi-year grants are up to £100,000 over three years, with no more than £50,000 in any year. The grant can cover no more than 50% of the cost, applicants must have income up to £500,000, and their postcode or project area must meet strict deprivation rankings. It is a rolling, two-stage process taking 12-15 weeks; CICs cannot apply.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £10,000 – £100,000; no fixed round
Deadline: Rolling; apply any time
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

Charitable organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: registered charities, social enterprises and not-for-profit registered companies that are not CICs, co-operative or community benefit societies, and voluntary organisations with a constitution and bank account
They must be small to medium local organisations with annual income up to £500,000, at least one year of annual accounts, a demonstrable track record of addressing local issues, and a focus on family support
The organisation's postcode, or the area where most of its work happens, must be in the most deprived 15% of the relevant national deprivation index for urban areas (over 10,000 people) or the most deprived 50% for rural areas; in Northern Ireland, the most deprived 50%, except Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Portadown and Lurgan where the 15% limit applies
Organisations working in qualifying areas but based outside them can supply up to six representative public-building postcodes
Local branches of national charities qualify only if they have their own charity number
Past Major Grant recipients must wait two years after the grant ends

What it funds

Revenue costs (core costs, salaries, running and project costs) for organisations focused on family support, including:

Early intervention: family support services and family hubs; parenting workshops and training, reducing parental conflict; engaging parents in their child's early development; supporting mothers' peri and postnatal mental health; supporting attachment between child and caregiver; supporting family relationships and lone parents
Families coping with addiction: counselling and peer support groups, advice and support, and befriending and listening services for families where addiction is evident
Prisoners' families: parenting education and workshops for offenders; counselling and coaching for prisoners' family members; befriending and peer support groups for prisoners' families

the grant can be no more than 50% of the total cost of a salary or of total annual running costs; the rest need not be secured yet but you need a feasible plan to raise it. The Foundation prefers frontline organisations working directly with families in need and will consider logical extensions of existing work, not a significant shift from an organisation's core aims and track record. Single-year grants should be spent within 12 months of payment.

What it will not fund

Organisations whose postcode or project area is outside the deprivation limits (most deprived 15% for urban areas, 50% for rural)
Organisations with annual income over £500,000
Adventure playgrounds, baby banks and disability charities (Major Grants only)
Community Interest Companies (CICs)
Newly established organisations with no previous annual accounts
Charities or NGOs registered outside the UK
Individuals, directly or through a third party
Statutory services, including state schools, local or national authorities, prisons, NHS hospitals or services
Universities, further education colleges and independent schools
Hospices
Grant-making or umbrella organisations
Organisations that applied unsuccessfully in the previous 12 months
Organisations that made late annual returns to the Charity Commission or Companies House in the past three years
Organisations that have not reviewed their safeguarding policy and/or held formal safeguarding training in the past 12 months
Organisations holding more than 12 months' operating costs in reserves
Capital projects
Projects outside the UK
Animal welfare
Environment and conservation
Medical research
Feasibility studies
One-off events
PR and awareness raising; fundraising salaries, events, initiatives or websites
Non-secular activities
Projects primarily producing films, podcasts or other media
Urban projects not delivered in the same city or town (or London borough) where the applicant is based
Campaigning, organisational development or capacity building (unlikely to be supported)

How to apply

Read the Major Grants Funding Guidelines
Check the deprivation rank of your organisation's or project area's postcode (the FAQ explains how for each nation)
Complete the online eligibility quiz
Read the Stage 1 Application Guidance and submit the online Stage 1 application
If Stage 1 is approved at a Grants Committee meeting, complete the full Stage 2 application online, attaching latest annual accounts and a budget for the total cost of the work
Stage 2 applicants may have an online assessment meeting
Trustees decide at Grants Committee meetings in January, April, July or October

there are no deadlines; applications need to arrive at least three months before a meeting, and applying close to a meeting means more competition. The Foundation cannot discuss projects before an application.

Have ready

Latest annual accounts, including an Income and Expenditure sheet and a Balance Sheet
Budget for the total cost of the work applied for
Up to six representative postcodes of public buildings in your delivery areas, if your own postcode does not qualify

uploads up to 10 MB each and 25 MB in total. If awarded, you will be asked for the charity's latest bank statement.

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