Applications have now closed (as of 6pm on Monday 7th December). The information below remains online for those who have applied to refer back to.
We do not anticipate opening another education charity funding round before September 2021 – to be contacted when another funding round will open please join our mailing list using the button below.
This education main grants programme will consider applications for support of £5,000 – £15,000 for a single year that are:
– from UK registered charities (including CIOs but not CICs) with an income of less than £3million per annum
– to support evidence based approaches to improving literacy in Key Stage 1 (5-7) and/or enabling high quality early years (0-5) education for disadvantaged children
We appreciate the time and effort that fundraising takes. We aim to be as clear as possible about what we do and do not fund, how to apply for a grant and how long the process usually takes. Please look at the information in each of the tabs below before you apply.
To be eligible to apply for an education main grant from the Leathersellers’ Fund in 2020-2021 you must be:
- applying for between £5,000 – £15,000 as a single year grant
- a UK registered charity (this includes Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) but not Community Interest Companies (CIC))
- currently providing evidence-based services to improve literacy in Key Stage 1 and/or enabling high quality early years (0-5) education for disadvantaged children
To note: priority will be given to charities that work in Lewisham and the surrounding boroughs due to our longstanding support of the education of children in the area, however applications from across the UK are welcome.
Please also note:
- A charity may only make one grant application at a time.
- If you have been awarded a grant previously, you will not be eligible to apply for the same period of time as that of your grant. For example: if you received a one-year grant you cannot reapply for one year after the date your end of year grant report is submitted. If you received multi-year funding for four years you will not be eligible to apply for further funding for four years from the date your final grant report is submitted.
- If you were previously unsuccessful, you are not eligible to apply for a full year from the date of the email by which you were informed of the decision. If you are unsure when that was please contact us.
Applications closed at 6pm on Monday 7th December 2020.
These will then be reviewed and you will be contacted regarding any follow up questions. Applicants will be informed as to whether they have been shortlisted or not by 5th February 2021.
Shortlisted applications will be invited to attend an online meeting in February to meet representatives of the Charitable Fund and discuss their application in more depth. The final recommendations from that meeting will be considered and a decision will be taken by the Court (who are the trustees of the Leathersellers’ Charitable Foundation) in early March. Final decisions will be communicated to shortlisted charities by 5th March 2021.
Confirmation
You will receive immediate confirmation of receipt of your application via email from charityapp@leathersellers.co.uk (please check your junk/spam folders as this is an automated system and so may get caught).
You must make your application via our online form. You can download a sample of this in word here – but it can only be submitted via the online form.
- You don’t need to do it all at once – you can save your progress and sign back in anytime until you submit.
- We ask you to supply a budget and forecast income (uploaded as a separate document).
- You do not need to upload your audited accounts, we will access these from the Charity Commission. If the publicly available accounts are over a year old however, we ask that you upload a copy of your draft accounts so we have more relevant information.
- Once you have submitted the form you will receive an immediate email acknowledgement from charityapp@leathersellers.co.uk letting you know it has been received safely (please check your junk/spam folder as this is an automated email and so may get caught).
- We notify all applicants via email on the outcome of their application.
What do you mean by evidence-based services?
With this funding programme, the Leathersellers’ Charitable Foundation would like to fund services that have been proven to have a positive impact on the educational outcomes of children under 7. We appreciate not all charities will have been able to do their own robust evaluation and so offer you the chance to link to external evidence (e.g. a report or other source) which shows that your approach works.
When can I reapply for funding?
If you were successful in obtaining a grant, then you need to wait for a period equal to the length of that grant before reapplying. For example: if you received a one-year grant you can reapply one year after the date on which your final end of year grant report was submitted. Similarly, if you received multi-year funding for four years, you can reapply four years after the date on which your final grant report was submitted.
If you were unsuccessful in obtaining a grant, you can reapply one year after the date on which you were informed of that decision.
If you are unsure when your final end of year grant report was submitted, or when you were informed that your application was not successful, please contact us.
Do Leathersellers’ Charitable Fund only fund charities in London?
No, we support registered charities working within and for the benefit of communities across the UK, although we are prioritising the borough of Lewisham and the surrounding areas for this fund in the first instance.
Can I request feedback if my application is unsuccessful?
Unfortunately, as we only have a small Grants team at the Leathersellers’ it is not possible for us to provide feedback to all applicants. Applicants that have been shortlisted and taken part in an online meeting will be able to access feedback.
Do we need to have a connection to the Livery Company or one of its members?
No, the Leathersellers’ Charitable Fund has an open application process and you do not need to have an introduction to be able to apply. If you do have a particular connection to the Livery, please make that clear in your application. If a Liveryman has agreed to support your application, please ask them to contact the Grants team after you have submitted your application, to explain their connection
If we apply for too much funding, will we get nothing?
No, if your requested sum is larger than the Committee consider appropriate, they may grant a smaller amount. Your funding request is not an all or nothing consideration.
