Allen Lane Foundation
The Allen Lane Foundation is a grant-making trust which was established in 1966. The founder was Sir Allen Lane, who set up the publishing company Penguin Books.
Our Aims & Criteria
Our aims are to fund work within each of our funding programmes which:
will make a lasting difference to people’s lives rather than simply alleviating the symptoms or current problems;
is aimed at reducing isolation, stigma and discrimination, and;
encourages or enables groups that experience marginalisation and/or discrimination to share in the life of the whole community.
Over a typical year, we make around 130-150 grants, to a total value of between £720,000 and £800,000. The total amount we can offer is up to £15,000. This can be over three years, two years, or a single grant. However, most grants we make are for much less than this amount, with the average grant size being £5,000-£6,000.
We aim to help organisations to become sustainable, supporting running and core costs to enable them to have flexibility, security and longevity. We can contribute to project costs or salaries.
Six of our funding programmes are focused on funding for adults only. The Young People’s Programme can support people aged approx 12-21 from across a broader range of backgrounds. While recognising (and being willing to support) on-going, tried and tested projects, we are also particularly interested in unusual, imaginative or pioneering projects which have perhaps not yet caught the public imagination.
Size of organisation?
To make sure our grants have an impact, we fund relatively small organisations. If you work across a local area such as a village, estate or town, to be eligible you will need to have an income of less than around £100,000. At the other end of the spectrum, if you work across the whole of the UK you will need to have an income of less than around £250,000.
Type of organisation?
We fund organisations which are registered charities, and also other organisations which are not charities but which seek funding for a charitable project. (Such as constituted voluntary groups or Community Interest Companies for example.) We would expect that governing boards have a minimum of three unrelated members.
We do not fund bodies such as schools, colleges, universities, NHS bodies or town/city/county councils.
We do not make grants to individuals.
Geographical area?
We make grants across the United Kingdom. The only exception is that we do not fund work within Greater London. Organisations which have their offices in London are eligible provided the people who benefit from their work are not only in London.
Exclusions
There are certain activities/issues that we do not fund – Please see our exclusion list here.
For information regarding specific schemes, and to apply, please visit: https://allenlane.org.uk/funding/