The Hilden Charitable Fund

We fund smaller UK-based organisations delivering projects within the UK to support social justice and to tackle disadvantage in specific areas of focus - providing unrestricted, core or project funding.

Who can apply

We do not fund individuals, only organisations. To be eligible to make an application your organisation must be based in the UK and be one of the following:

• Registered Charity

• Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

• Community Interest Company (CIC) (NB must be limited by guarantee, not by shares)

• Charitable Company (NB you must be registered both as a charity and a company)

• Excepted Charity (see Excepted charities - GOV.UK for more information on these)

To be eligible to apply, your total annual income as shown in your most recent accounts should be no more than £250,000.

If your income is above that in your latest accounts but your average income over the most recent three years is under £250k then you can still apply – this is to allow for one-off “good” years.

We are keen to support small organisations and our preference is to fund those already established rather than new ones (though these are still eligible).

Whilst you may be eligible to apply and your proposal meets our criteria, priority will be given to organisations which demonstrate good governance and good practice. For example:

• having a history of returning accounts and documents to your regulatory body (eg Charity Commission) on time

• having at least four Trustees/Directors on your Board who are unrelated to each other.

• having robust policies and practices on safeguarding, equalities, financial management, etc

Charity accounts must be independently examined or audited and comply with The Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) - GOV.UK

We will also prioritise organisations which have a significant number of people on their boards and/or staff team who have lived experience of the issues they are addressing.

Where a grant would be used to support the provision of specialist and/or sensitive services you must demonstrate sufficient track record and expertise in delivering those services. In some cases a recognised qualification or quality mark may be required.​

Restrictions

• Individuals (including via bursaries)

• Non-charitable activities

• Promotion of Religion

• Party-political organisations or Party-political campaigning (charitable campaigning is okay)

• Medical research

• Registered Social Landlords (eg housing associations

• Hospitals or primary healthcare provision

• Fundraising-only posts (though we can fund a post where fundraising is part of what they do)

• Statutory services

• Residential care

Eligible expenditure

The Fund has signed up to the IVAR Eight Commitments ( https://www.ivar.org.uk/flexible-funders/ ) – a pledge by funders to provide clear information and reduce bureaucracy for applicants. As part of that pledge we aim to provide funding which meets your needs as far and as appropriately as possible.​

We offer Unrestricted Grants; or Project/Core Funding.​

You can choose which of these to apply for, however please note that to be eligible for unrestricted funding all the work of your organisation must meet our criteria. For example, if you were a general community group where only some of the work you did was with refugees then you could not apply for unrestricted funding as your other work would not meet our priorities. All unrestricted grants must be used for charitable purposes.​

Organisations can apply for up to two years’ funding with grants awarded usually between £5,000 - £7,000 in value per year.​

If you already hold a grant from us you can apply in this round provided that your current grant ends in 2023 – if it does not end until 2024 then I’m afraid you are unable to apply.​

If you applied before and were unsuccessful you can still apply in this round.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees​

Asylum Seekers and Refugees continue to face hostility, challenge and isolation which prevents them being able to fully integrate into society; and some face considerable levels of poverty due to being unable to work or use their skills. We want to support organisations and projects which provide essential services; which help meet their needs; and which support their participation within the wider community.​

Penal Affairs​

Whilst custodial sentences are very damaging for all of those affected, research by the Prison Reform Trust shows that women are often more greatly impacted, especially where they have children or other caring responsibilities. During the Pandemic, for example, family visits to prisons were curtailed and many children did not see their parent for over a year. We want to support work “through the door” where charitable organisations go into prisons with projects and support to help prisoners (especially women) cope and/or maintain family bonds and to be better able to resettle positively when released. Equally we welcome applications for post-release projects which support positive resettlement and a reduction in the likelihood of reoffending. However, please note that job-search/employment agency projects are unlikely to be funded.

How to apply

Applications will only be accepted using the online application form. Please note the word limits on certain questions. In order to access the form here - https://formapply.formstack.com/forms/hilden_grant_application_form_uk_programmes_2023 - you must first complete an eligibility checklist – if you are not eligible you will not be able to open the main form.

Application Opening Dates and Processing Times​

The online form will be available on Monday 22nd May 2023 and the closing date for submitting your completed application will be 4pm on Friday 7th July. No applications will be eligible if received after this date/time.​

Our aim is to process all applications to be able to give you a decision at the beginning of October 2023. If a decision is likely to be delayed until after then, we will let you know. When applying please bear in mind that your grant cannot start until you receive a formal decision from us.​

As part of the assessment process we may wish to speak to you by telephone or Zoom and may, on occasion, arrange a visit with you. Please don’t worry if we ask to speak or meet with you in this way! These meetings are to help us get a fuller picture of your proposal and to give you a chance to talk about your work as it is not always easy for you to do it justice on a written application.

If your application is declined we endeavour to provide feedback if you wish – just get in touch.

For more information, please visit: https://www.hildencharitablefund.org/