The Weavers’ Company Benevolent Fund was set up in 1973 with funds from The Worshipful Company of Weavers, which is the oldest City of London Livery Company and has a history dating back before 1130 AD.
Benevolent Fund Priorities
1. Helping disadvantaged young people
The object of the fund is to support projects working with disadvantaged young people to ensure that they are given every possible chance to meet their full potential and to participate fully in society. We normally define young people as being aged from 5 to 30 years.
2. Offenders and ex-offenders, particularly those under 30 years of age
Many offenders and ex-offenders suffer from a variety of difficult and complex problems and they are amongst the most vulnerable members of society. We will fund work that addresses the social and economic problems faced by this group and their families, and provide them with support, life skills training and a way back into education, training and/or employment, so that they may reintegrate and make a positive contribution to society.
We are especially interested in helping smaller organisations which offer direct services. They must be registered charities or in the process of applying for registration. Our grants are relatively modest, usually with an upper limit of £15,000 per annum, and to make sure grants of this size have an impact, we will not fund large organisations.
Applicants must show that they have investigated other sources of funding and made plans for the future, which should include replacement funding if appropriate.
We receive a great many appeals each year and the most common reasons for the Trustees not being able to make a grant include:
- applications not falling within our guidelines;
- charities asking for more than the grant figures given in the guidelines;
- application forms not being filled in correctly;
Read these guidelines carefully and only apply if your work falls within our priorities.
If you are in any doubt contact the Charities Officer, who will be glad to help.
What will we fund?
Size of organisation
To be eligible for funding, local organisations such as those working in a village, estate or small town should normally have an income of less than about £100,000. Those working across the UK should normally have an income of not more than about £250,000.
Funding Limit
Grants are usually up to £15,000 per annum but smaller applications are also welcomed.
Duration of funding
Grants may be awarded for up to three years.
Pump-priming
We particularly welcome applications for pump-priming grants from small community-based organisations where our grant would form a major element of the funding
Project funding
We prefer to support projects where our grant will be used for an identified purpose.
Associated Costs
If you are applying for project funding, you should make sure you have included the cost of any overheads associated with the work, such as office/secretarial support, so that the project is not under-funded. It is in your best interest to ensure that you have realistically assessed the cost of the project.
Core costs
We will consider applications for core funding, such as general administration and training that enable an organisation to develop and maintain expertise. Only those organisations whose main purpose fits within our area of interest are eligible to apply.
Innovative or pioneering work
We like to encourage new ideas and to fund projects that could inspire similar work in other areas of the country.
Continuation funding
We appreciate the importance of providing ongoing funding for successful projects, which have proved their worth.
Emergency or deficit funding
In exceptional circumstances, we may provide emergency or deficit funding for an established organisation. Applicants most likely to be granted emergency funding are charities which the Company knows or has previously supported.
The next application deadline will be the 1st August 2016.
For more information and to apply please go to the website
