Sir Halley Stewart Trust

Sir Halley Stewart Trust grants

Grants for innovative research and pioneering development projects that aim to prevent (rather than alleviate) human suffering, in three themes: Social, Medical and Religious, with education running across all three. Main Grants of £5,001-£60,000 over one to three years (at most £30,000 a year), usually for salaries, where the Trust is the sole or major funder; Small Grants of up to £5,000 for scoping or pilot projects costing no more than £5,000. Grants go only to or through UK charitable organisations. The Trust funds about 1 in 10 applications, and a round closes early once it has enough.

Apply on the funder’s site

You could get: £5,000 – £60,000
Deadline: 131 days left; 26 February
Effort: Heavy; budgets, references, often several stages

Who can apply

UK-based charitable organisations, primarily UK registered charities; other UK charitable forms are considered case by case
Projects can be in the UK or abroad, but grants are paid only to or through a UK charitable organisation
A CIC can apply only if the project is delivered in partnership with a UK registered charity, with a Memorandum of Understanding, and the grant is paid via the charity
Social grants: only service-delivery charitable organisations (partnerships, including with academics, are allowed) with annual income up to £3,000,000
Medical grants: applications must come directly from researchers at UK medical institutions or university departments, with ethics approval where needed
The person applying must be the lead person responsible for delivering the project, not a fundraiser
The Trust encourages applications from groups under-represented in research and development leadership, and is keen on promising young researchers

What it funds

Projects that focus on the prevention (rather than the alleviation) of human suffering and are one or both of:

Innovative research projects that explore and test new ideas, methods, approaches, interventions or devices
Pioneering or ground-breaking development projects that are the first of their kind or lay the foundations for further developments
Social: catalysing, under-funded UK causes, as practical development projects or research on practical impact, that prevent and resolve conflict, promote reconciliation or re-connect family members; help people 'move beyond disadvantage'; or help people who may be vulnerable or have been exploited (plus a small number of international development projects run by UK charities with in-country partners)
Medical: practical projects capable of clinical application within five to ten years, on quality of life for older people with physical or psychological disorders, prevention of disease and disability in children, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tropical infectious and parasitic diseases, innovations likely to improve health care, or medical care for disadvantaged groups
Religious: ground-breaking, practical ecumenical projects in the UK (and abroad where there is a special need) that help Christians engage and communicate their faith in public life, encourage dialogue between Christian faith and contemporary issues, improve inter-denominational or inter-faith relationships (particularly Christian-Muslim), support innovative Christian education and communication, or help groups explore their spirituality

Grants are normally a salary contribution or fund an entire project; the Trust prefers to fund at least 50% of project costs. Implementation or roll-out of pioneering pilots may be funded; a straightforward scale-up of a proven model is less likely to be.

Every project needs strong dissemination and evaluation plans, measurable outcomes, and evidence of equality, diversity and inclusion and of safeguarding.

What it will not fund

Grants directly to individuals
Donations to general appeals of any kind
The purchase, erection or conversion of buildings, or other capital costs
University overhead charges
Continuation funding for ongoing projects, or running costs of established organisations
Retrospective funding
Conference attendance (not usually)
Projects proposed indirectly through 'umbrella' organisations (not usually)
Projects from large well-funded charities (not usually)
Personal education fees or fees for taught courses, unless a senior researcher seeks funds for research a postgraduate student could do (not usually)
Completion of a project or PhD initiated by other bodies (not usually)
Educational or 'gap-year' projects for young people (not usually)
Projects where the Trust would not be a major supporter, normally under 50% of total costs (not usually)
Medical work involving animal experimentation
Medical areas heavily funded by others, such as Research Councils or large research charities (the Trust is reluctant)

How to apply

Read the website, including the grant types, priority areas and Applicant FAQs
Complete the Trust's online Eligibility Test
If you pass, submit the Expression of Interest form (the link is sent to you)
If the Trust judges the project suitable, you are sent the link to the online Application form; draft answers offline using the published questions and the 2026 application guidelines (character limits apply, and you can save and return within 30 days)
Submit the application; you receive an email confirmation, and the Trust may ask for more information during assessment
About a month before the Trustee meeting you are told whether the proposal goes to the full Board or has been unsuccessful

Main Grants are decided at Trustee meetings in February, June and October. On 17 Oct 2026 the 25 February 2027 meeting was full; the round for 24 June 2027 closes 26 February 2027 and the round for 7 October 2027 closes 25 June 2027, each earlier without warning once capacity (often about 50 applications) is reached.

Small Grants are considered all year round with no deadline.

The Trust publishes guidelines on the use of AI in applications; budgets must be based on real costs.

Have ready

One-page CV summary for the project lead (e.g. Principal Investigator or Project Manager), and for other key project staff
Budget (with a one-page high-level summary if it is complex or longer than a page)
Safeguarding Policy and procedures (universities may give a link)
Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) Policy (universities may give a link)
Supporting documents such as references, testimonials or letters of support, combined into a single file
Memorandum of Understanding with the partner charity, if the applicant is a CIC

An Additional Information document (up to four A4 pages) is optional. Research involving people needs ethical approval and a named research Sponsor. If awarded, you sign Grant Conditions and send bank details and any ethics approval.

More like this

Other grants open to organisations like yours.