Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Schroder Charity Trust typically makes grants of up to £5,000 towards core and project (restricted) costs to charities registered in the UK.  

The Schroder Charity Trust welcomes applications from organisations whose primary activity/activities addresses the Trustees’ current funding objectives and priority areas of interest. The Trustees will only accept applications from organisations bringing about measurable outcomes in their field, and also those operating in areas in the top 20% of indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) using the government IMD databases for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  

Please note that the objectives and priority areas are subject to regular review. Any changes to the objectives and priority areas will be communicated via the Schroder Charity Trust website. 

Objective (1): Enabling children and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to thrive and achieve their potential in education and employment. 

Priorities: 

• Enhancing early years school readiness for children in vulnerable families 
• Developing reading and literacy skills 
• Enhancing financial literacy 
• Helping young people pursue vocational careers and apprenticeships 
• Enhancing employment outcomes for young offenders (aged 18-25) 
• Providing tutoring to develop attainment at primary and secondary school 

Objective (2): Strengthening communities through services and opportunities which enhance the wellbeing and life outcomes of vulnerable and disadvantaged people. 

Priorities: 

• Providing services and advice to help people out of financial hardship and material poverty 
• Enhancing life outcomes for children in the care system 
• Reducing social isolation and maximising independence for older people 
• Building confidence, resilience, life skills and wellbeing through structured youth work programmes provided by qualified youth workers  
• Supporting the homeless and those at risk of homelessness into sustainable housing 
• Providing support to young carers 

You will be asked to specify which priority your work falls under in the application, and we also like to understand your impact and achievements for your beneficiaries. 

The Schroder Charity does not accept applications for funding from the following: 

• Charities with an annual income below £150,000 or over £1,000,000 
• Charities registered outside of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland  
• Organisations with a status other than registered charity (e.g. CICs and social enterprises) 
• Charities who have applied to us unsuccessfully in the past 12 months 
• Charities who have received a grant from the Schroder Charity Trust in the past 24 months. If you have recently received a grant from the Schroder Charity Trust, please wait 24 months from the grant offer date before reapplying. 
• Newly established charities that cannot provide a full year of audited accounts 
• Individuals – including applications made by an organisation on behalf of an individual, or where the grant will only have one beneficiary 
• Political, statutory or animal welfare organisations 
• Local or regional charities affiliated with a national charity or part of a wider network doing similar work

The Schroder Charity Trust does not accept applications for the following areas of activity: 

• Work that falls outside the above objectives and priorities 
• General and round-robin appeals 
• Festivals, one-off events or time limited fundraising appeals  
• Capital or building projects 
• Personal sponsorships 
• Work that takes place outside of the UK  
• Requests over £5,000 
• Endowments 
• Multi-year funding 
• Retrospective expenditure for work that has already taken place or nearly finished i.e. grants cannot be made retroactively 

The Schroder Charity Trust typically makes grants of up to £5,000. We fund both core costs and project (restricted) costs. Grants are for a one-year period and not over multiple years.

Please click on the Apply section at the top of the web page. This section will only be available during the application windows detailed on the home page. You will first be asked some questions to establish that your charity is eligible to apply for a grant.  If your charity is eligible, you will then be able to complete our online application form.

All relevant information must be provided within your application. It is important to note that we can only accept applications online. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement once submitted.

You do not need to complete your application in one visit as you will be able to save and return to it. Each time you save the form you will be provided with a link to use to access the form. Please note that you will be provided with a new link every time you save the form. You (or a colleague) must use the latest link each time, so as not to lose any changes.

• The current is open from 1^st July 2026  to 28^th August 2026.  
• Dates for future application windows will be published on the website in due course.  
• We anticipate that decisions on grants will be made within four months of the application window closing. Please bear this timescale in mind when applying for project (restricted) funding (i.e. not ongoing work or core costs) as we are unable to fund projects which have already started or been completed. 
• Decisions on grants are communicated via email to the email address provided in the application. 
• Please note that due to the volume of applications received we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful applications. 

To help us learn and understand the impact of our grants, we ask grantees to submit a simple report answering specific questions one year after the award. The questions will be shared with grant holders ahead of the deadline. 

• If you have received a grant previously and wish to reapply for further funding, you must wait for at least 24 months from the grant offer date before reapplying.
• Please note that if you previously made an application that has been unsuccessful, you cannot reapply for 12 months from the date that you received the notification of the decision.

If you are experiencing issues with the website, eligibility quiz or application form, please send an explanation of the problem and screenshots to info@schrodercharitytrust.org

If you have a question not covered in the above information, please email info@schrodercharitytrust.org