The Three Guineas Trust
Overview
What they do
Autism
They fund practical projects that support the autonomy, liberty and human rights of autistic and neurodivergent people. They prefer work that include autistic and neurodivergent people in decision-making and delivery. They will fund social skills projects. We will fund parent/carer and family support.
Disability, violence and access to justice
They support a small portfolio of projects working on Deaf and disabled people’s civic rights. They also support a small number of organisations responding to violence against autistic, neurodivergent and disabled people. They expect to add to this portfolio, using careful research and dialogue with disabled people.
Holiday activity schemes for autistic children and young people
2025 round
This grants round is now closed.
2026 round
The 2026 round will focus more strongly on autistic-specific holiday schemes. It will run in the spring of 2026.
This scheme provides grants of up to £15,000 to activity schemes for autistic children and young people, and their siblings, which run in the school holidays. Grants are usually for part of the costs.
This programme is for:
- Autistic-specific activity programmes that run in the school holidays in the UK (including sessions for siblings).
Or:
- The costs to include autistic children and young people who require two-to-one or greater support to take part in other play and activity schemes.
To apply you will need to meet these conditions:
- Be a not-for-profit organisation.
- Have a safeguarding policy (what they expect on safeguarding).
- Use properly trained staff and volunteers. For autistic children and young people who take part in other play and activity schemes, staff must have specialist training to provide two-to-one support or greater.
- Have a bank account with two people to authorise or check on payments.
Access to legal advice for disabled people
This programme aims to increase access for Disabled or neurodivergent people to advice and advocacy on benefits and debt, housing and homelessness, community care, personal liberty and equal access to goods and services.
Applications will be shortlisted, assessed and recommended for a grant by a panel of 11 people who are Disabled or neurodivergent, or who have lived experience of disability and learned experience of legal advice.
This programme is for grants to projects supporting Disabled or neurodivergent people to exercise their rights on:
- Income, welfare benefits or debt
- Housing and homelessness
- Community care
- Personal liberty
- Equal access to goods and services
This programme is for work that helps people in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
What they mean by Disabled or neurodivergent people
This application uses the phrase Disabled or neurodivergent people to include, among others but not limited to:
- Disabled people
- neurodivergent people, including autistic people
- Deaf and deafblind people
- blind and partially sighted people
- people with other sensory or motor conditions
- people who find their day-to-day activities are limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions, or by people’s attitudes to these conditions (following the social model of disability)
Who they will fund
For this round, they will look at applications from not-for-profit organisations for work to provide legal advice, advocacy, or overcome barriers to access advice and advocacy services for Disabled or neurodivergent people as follows:
Legal advice
Legal advice accredited to one of the following:
- Lexel
- Legal Aid Agency Specialist Quality Mark
- Advice Quality Standard
- Money and Pensions Service Debt Advice Quality Framework
- Scottish Legal Aid Board for Type 2 (casework) or Type 3 (advocacy, representation and mediation at a tribunal or court action level) advice
- Northern Ireland Advice Quality Standard
Advocacy
Advocacy for individual people:
- accredited to the Advocacy Quality Performance Mark
- delivered using a recognised set of principles, standards and code of practice that includes training and supervision (for example the standard set out by the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance)
- delivered using equivalent in-house standards, including training and supervision
Overcoming barriers to access
Organisations that work to help Disabled or neurodivergent people to overcome barriers to access to goods and services or to exercise their rights must demonstrate that they provide services to the standards set out above, or work with organisations that do (for example a Deaf-led advice organisation that partners with a law centre).
Partnerships and joint projects
Applications from more than one organisation are welcome provided they demonstrate that the work is directed by Disabled or neurodivergent people.
There is an extra statement in the application form for partnerships and joint projects.
Campaigning and policy advocacy
Applications that include campaigning and policy advocacy as part of the work must demonstrate that this will be done ethically and include ways to look after the people taking part.
There is an extra statement in the application form for work that includes campaigning and policy advocacy.
How much can you apply for and how long will the funding last?
They have earmarked a total of £1.5 million for this round of grants. The maximum annual grant will be £50,000 a year. Grants will be for up to 3 years’ funding.
There are no restrictions on what resources the grant can be used to pay for provided the work furthers Disabled or neurodivergent people’s access to justice.
They imagine grants will be in the region of £25,000 to £50,000 a year, and for up to three years.
Grants in this programme will be considered by a panel of 10-12 people with lived experience of disability or learned experience of law.
Information about their governance is also available from the Charity Commission.
Notes
Three Guineas is one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts (SFCT) which share an office.
SFCT operates recruitment and employment practices that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in its workforce.
SFCT is a Living Wage employer.