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 support individuals and communities who are in contact with the criminal legal system, or at imminent risk of coming into contact, and particularly those focused on harm prevention.

We want our funding to support work that has a clear intent to bring about change and that puts equity at the centre. We look to have an impact on the most marginalised and excluded communities and/or facing intersecting disadvantages, particularly racialised communities. This includes but is not limited to: organisations supporting individuals (and their families) who are within the criminal legal system (at any stage, from prevention to police to courts and prison) as well as upon release.

We are interested in organisations working with those on the sharpest end of sentencing (including joint enterprise and IPP); and those subject to state injustice (such as miscarriages of justice, or deaths in custody).

We support a wide range of work, including delivering services, policy advocacy and influencing, campaigning, narrative change work, and community organising, or some combination of these approaches.

We are interested in the use of the law as a tool for social change, to address injustices at individual and systemic levels.

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.