Whirlwind Charitable Trust

Overview

The Whirlwind Charitable Trust is a comparatively small grant-making charity and the scope of our donations is necessarily limited. They hope to build long term relationships with organisations that can deliver against their agenda in an efficient, cost-effective manner with a strong emphasis on “making a difference” in the lives of individuals to access sailing and outdoor activities.

Who are they looking to fund?

They provide grants for disadvantaged children sailing and a wide range of other outdoor and marine-related pursuits and projects.

Your charity may be focused on at least one of these areas:

• Improving the life chances of disadvantaged young people
• Understanding and improving our marine environment
• Helping those living with disability fulfil their potential

Your charity will be a particularly good fit for the Trust if you combine elements of support and mentoring for those in need with a passion for nature, the outdoors and conservation.

You might be seeking grants for disadvantaged children sailing or other adventurous activities.

Most importantly, you will share their belief that facing and overcoming challenges builds character, fosters resilience and helps individuals of all backgrounds live richer and fuller lives.

Many of their charities are volunteer-led and benefit those volunteers almost as much as those being assisted! Volunteers also help charities to work cost-effectively, and this is something they value.

Additionally, they like organisations that track the outcomes of their work and have strong follow-up or mentoring programmes. They feel these can help deliver lasting benefits to participants.

They also value a positive educational element, particularly with regard to the coastal and marine environment. The best charities make the world a better place in a variety of ways, and they take particular satisfaction in supporting those that share their holistic philosophy.

Find out more about the charities they support.

What are they looking to fund?

To “make a difference” means more than providing these individuals with a special experience, however challenging or rewarding.

They favour applications that provide such experiences within the context of longer term contact, relationships or mentoring – with the clear objective of helping the transition from a challenging background to becoming a fulfilled and successful member of society.

Whirlwind will only consider applications consistent with the charity’s Equality Policy.

All must be open to participants regardless of faith, social background, race or gender and may not be exclusively promoted to any such category.

They look most favourably on applications that can demonstrate:

• Involvement in maritime or outdoor pursuits and a level of challenge appropriate to the circumstances of the individuals involved.
• Longer term contact, mentoring and support for those individuals.
• The fullest utilisation of capital assets.
• Modest organisational overheads and employee salaries.
• A high percentage of volunteer help.
• Donations focused on delivery rather than general overheads.
• A competitive day/person cost for the activities envisaged.
• Access for people who could not normally participate.
• An aim to give “at risk” individuals a fresh, constructive focus so that they can fulfil their own potential and make a positive contribution to society.
• A positive educational element, particularly with regard to the environment..
• A high standard of service efficiency in their dealings with Whirlwind.

Whirlwind also seeks to support research and conservation initiatives for the maritime environment.

They will occasionally support highly deserving cases from a wider remit.

Key Notes

Generally, you need to be a registered charity. If you can provide strong supporting evidence that funds will be deployed exactly as agreed, they may waive this requirement.

Whirlwind’s primary focus is to enhance the potential for success in life of young and disadvantaged people who could not otherwise participate in the activities they fund. They define this group as being up to 25 years of age. They will consider applications for projects focused on older age groups seeking to achieve similar objectives, but their primary focus is always the young.

They will consider projects outside sailing or outdoor pursuits so long as the activities proposed offer adequate opportunities for personal development through individual challenge and teamwork and access to potential role models through leadership and mentoring.

They will consider infrastructure funding where it directly supports delivery. For example, they have funded docks and lifting hoists to ensure easy access to boats for those with physical disabilities.