Woodward Charitable Trust: General Grants
Overview
The Woodward Charitable Trust updated their guidelines in May 2025.
Funding Priorities
They now only provide grants to organisations supporting disadvantaged families with young children up to age 11, and organisations that work directly with children of the same age group (0-11 years).
Grants of up to £10,000 per year for core costs are available for organisations with an annual income of up to £200,000, for a maximum of three consecutive years. The Trustees will also continue to provide one off grants. An organisation may receive funds for a maximum of three years in any five-year period.
Core costs includes staff salaries, rent, utilities, general office costs, accountancy and audit costs, fundraising, governance and compliance and costs supporting the core programmes of the organisation.
The Trustees prioritise small-scale, locally based initiatives.
WCT will prioritise funding organisations who are working in one or more of the following areas:
- Parenting / caregiving support
- Educational programmes for children both in and out of school, such as those that aim to boost attainment, attendance or emotional wellbeing
- Programmes and activities that benefit children’s wellbeing and development
- Pre-natal and post-natal support services
If your organisation works outside of these priority areas, it is unlikely that your application will be successful.
Whilst they understand that other individuals and groups may need support in these areas, WCT is focused on funding work that supports families with young children and children up to 11 years of age. Families may also have older children, and organisations may support other age groups, so long as at least 75% of your organisation’s work falls within these areas.
WCT will prioritise applications from organisations that:
- Evidence strong positive outcomes for the people they support and/or a strong evidenced need for new areas of work
- Promote community engagement and cohesion
- Promote skills development
- Promote volunteering opportunities and/or opportunities for the people they support to have a voice
- Work collaboratively to share learning and best practice
Please ensure your application demonstrates how your organisation’s work aligns with WCT’s guidelines.
Eligibility
The Trust only funds registered UK charities, CICs, CIOs and exempt charities (an exempt charity has charitable status and is required to comply with charity law).
WCT receives more applications than can be funded; please ensure your application meets all the following eligibility criteria. If it does not, the application will have to be rejected automatically:
- Focus: Your organisation is working to support disadvantaged families with young children up to age 11 or working directly with children of the same age group (0-11 years). At least 75% of your organisation’s work must align with this focus.
- Status: Your organisation is a registered UK charity, Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), Community Interest Company (CIC) or an exempt charity. WCT does not fund other types of organisations, unregistered groups or individuals.
- Income: Your organisation’s income was up to £200,000 for the last financial year (unless there was an exceptional reason why it exceeded this amount, in which case you will need to provide details of this).
- Request: You are making a grant request of up to £10,000 per year towards core costs. The Trustees welcome grant requests for one, two or three years.
- Free Reserves: Your organisation’s unrestricted reserves did not exceed 50% of income in the last financial year (unless there was an exceptional reason why they exceeded this amount, in which case you will need to provide details of this).
WCT will only fund organisations for a maximum of three consecutive years, or for three years in a five-year period, before a two-year break will apply. This includes any core cost grants prior to April 2025, but not their Summer Play Schemes grant programme which is considered separately.