Apply

To be eligible, your organisation will:

• Have a mission, aims and objectives aligned with one of our four priority areas. This must be either the sole focus, or the majority of your work and we are unlikely to fund organisations with a broader remit. If your work is broader, please contact us before applying.
• Be registered as a UK charity, delivering work in the UK
• Have an annual income between £150k and £1.5m (this applies to the most recent signed accounts and the two subsequent financial years - this would include draft figures and forecasts). See our FAQs for more detail
• Have operated for at least a year and be able to provide a full year’s audited or independently examined accounts

We do not fund:

• Individuals
• The promotion of religion
• Capital appeals
• Academic research
• Charities working outside the UK

For more information on the charities and work that we have funded in the past is available on this page.

The A B Charitable Trust works with organisations that provide specialist legal advice and representation. We define specialist legal advice as relating to the resolution of a legal problem where the advice is tailored to the individual’s circumstances. This would normally include end-to-end casework (where you take action on behalf of your clients to move their cases on) through to representation. It would not normally include one-off interventions.

We are interested in funding organisations that work across a range of legal areas. We particularly focus on organisations that are experts in a particular area of law and those that provide specialist advice to the most marginalised groups.

ABCT also looks to fund organisations which carry out more systemic work. We support work (including campaigning, policy, narrative change, and strategic legal action) which focuses on defending and improving the system in which people can obtain justice, and work that seeks to strengthen the rule of law. We see this as including an independent judiciary, a robust legal profession, and practical and effective access to the courts.

We consider a range of factors when making decisions. This includes looking at the organisation as a whole, the approach it takes and how it operates, as well as the activities being delivered.

1. Application form

Basic information about your organisation, finances and your request for funding through a four-page application form (the questions can be reviewed in our guidance).

2. Other documents

a. A Word/ PDF document of 2 to 2 ½ pages to tell us about your work.

As you can see on our website, A B Charitable Trust usually provides unrestricted funding. We are happy for you to draw on material you may already have when you prepare this document, for example the narrative in your annual accounts, the text on your website, or funding proposals you may have worked on recently. You don’t have to create something new for us. We find it useful to know your background; aims and objectives; activities and achievements; the individuals/ groups who you work with; as well as your organisation’s values and approach. If you are applying for unrestricted funding, there is no need to include a budget outlining how you propose to spend the grant.

If you would like to apply for restricted/ project funding, please describe the project and provide a project budget. The budget can be in addition to your 2 page document. Please see our FAQ’s for further details on what we are likely to fund.

If you have been invited to submit a proposal for a special initiative or anchor grant, you may exceed the two-page maximum for your proposal. Your Grants Manager can provide more details.

Please note we only accept complete applications submitted through our online application form.

Following your application, we will contact you directly if we require any further information, which may include a phone call as part of the assessment.

b. Financial information including most recent audited/ examined financial accounts, current financial year figures, and projection (if your financial year is ending within the next 4 months).

c. A copy of your governing document/ constitution, and your safeguarding policy.