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Charities

Grants to Charities

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The Ironmongers’ Company wishes to support projects that provide opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people to fulfil their potential.

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We are looking for projects that deliver clearly defined educational benefits to a specific group of children or young people. Projects could, for example, support special educational needs, or foster social, emotional or life skills. Preference will be given to projects piloting new approaches where the outcomes will be disseminated to a wider audience.


Grants

 

  • Grants range from £500 up to around £10,000. The average grant awarded is £4,000.

  • Grants must be spent within twelve months from the date of the award.

  • Recipients are expected to submit a written evaluation report within three months of the completion of the project.

  • The Ironmongers' Company’s support should make a recognisable difference, therefore preference will be given to requests where the grant would cover a significant element of the cost, and to those from smaller charities. 

 

Guidelines 

 

Grants are only given to registered charities. Projects must meet all of the following criteria:

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  • Be for children and young people under the age of 25 who are disadvantaged

  • Consist of educational activities that develop learning, motivation and skills

  • Have clear aims and objectives to be met within a planned timescale

  • Be carried out within the UK.

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Grant application timetable

 

We are open for the current round of submissions until 15 December 2024. Applications submitted outside of the timings below will not be considered. Please download and complete the application form, after carefully reading all of the guidance on this webpage.

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Autumn round

  • Open for submissions 31 October 2024

  • Application deadline 15 December 2024

  • Committee decision and notification of outcome end March 2025.

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Spring round

  • Open for submissions 31 May 2025

  • Application deadline 31 July 2025

  • Committee decision and notification of outcome end October 2025.

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Eligibility Criteria

 

Please read the following guidelines and application procedures carefully before applying, and please do not apply if you do not meet the criteria.  We receive a very high volume of applications and the Company’s funds and administrative resources are limited. 

 

Some common reasons for applications not being considered for funding are the following:

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  • The applicant is not a registered charity. 

  • The project is due to begin before the date of the meeting to consider applications. (We do not fund projects retrospectively.) 

  • The amount requested is too large. Grants normally range from £500 up to around £10,000, so the amount requested should be within this range.

  • The amount requested does not cover a significant proportion of the overall cost of the project. We don’t support large projects where the Company’s donation would have a limited impact.

  • A cost breakdown is not included with the application or the costs that are listed in the cost breakdown are not explained.  

 

Eligibility checklist

 

Please use this eligibility checklist to double-check that your project is eligible before applying. If you cannot answer ‘yes’ to every question, your application is not eligible for a grant and we politely request that you do not apply. Ineligible applications cannot be considered for funding.

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  • Are you a registered charity?

  • Is the project for children and young people under the age of 25 who are disadvantaged?

  • Does your project consist of educational activities that develop learning, motivation and skills? (Items of equipment will be considered only where a full explanation is given of how they will support this activity.)

  • Does your project have clear aims and objectives to be met within a planned timescale?

  • Is your project within the UK?

  • Will the Company’s support make a recognisable difference? (Preference will be given to requests where the grant would cover a significant element of the cost, and to those from smaller organisations.)

  • Have you checked that your project does not fall into one of the excluded categories listed below?

  • Having read through the application procedure, and completed your application, have you included a full cost breakdown?

  • Have you checked that the planned start date of your project is after the date of the relevant committee decision (see timetable)? We do not fund retrospectively.

 

Exclusions

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  • General appeals or circulars

  • Replacement of statutory funding

  • General running costs (a reasonable proportion of overheads will be accepted as part of project costs)

  • Medical treatment, healthcare, counselling and therapy

  • Course fees for professionals

  • Research projects

  • Bursaries

  • Schools, unless a registered charity for children/young people with disabilities

  • Fundraising events and sponsorship

  • Building work

  • Holidays

 

Application Procedure

 

  • The Company’s Grant Application Form must be completed (please note, this form is only available to download while we are open for applications. See grant application timetable).

  • A description of the project of no more than three A4 pages, typed on one side of each sheet, should be provided.

  • Please include the following headings:

    • Aims and objectives of the organisation

    • How the need for the work has been identified and why the project is the best way to address this

    • A detailed description of the project and the activities that will take place

    • The anticipated outcomes and the methods by which the success of the project will be evaluated

    • a full breakdown of the costs involved, explaining how the figures have been calculated

    • how the need for the work has been identified and why the project is the best way to address this.

 

Submission

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  • Completed applications should be sent to the Charities Assistant by post to Ironmongers' Hall (address below).

  • There is no need to send any further supporting documents. We will request them if we need them.

  • Please note that the Appeals Committee meets twice a year at the end of March and October. The deadlines for receipt of applications are 15 December and 31 July respectively.

  • Please note that applications are not accepted by email.

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For any queries, please email charities@ironmongers.org. 

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THOMAS BETTON'S CHARITY FOR PENSION & RELIEF IN NEED

REG. CHARITY NO. 219153-9

THE IRONMONGERS' FOUNDATION

REG CHARITY NO. 219153-10

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Grant application timetable
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