Currently the Trustees’ areas of interest extend to charitable organisations which:
Help the blind and visually impaired
Priorities to include:
- Advice/support/welfare benefit schemes
- Employment and lifeskills training
- Mobility/independence schemes
- Expanding horizons and improving wellbeing and integration within the community often through arts, sports and other leisure activities including computer skills
Are researching into the cause, cure or alleviation of cancer or arthritis, or supporting people with these conditions
From 2013 for a period of 3 years support for medical research projects into cancers will be limited to those investigating cancers relating to the digestive tract. Charities should also show that they have secured matching funding for the research project. There are no such restrictions for medical research projects investigating arthritis. However, all charities applying for a medical research grant should be members of the Association of Medical Research Charities.
There are no such restrictions for applications for cancer care projects
Help disabled people, including those affected by physical disability or illness and those with mental health problems or learning disabilities
Priorities to include:
- Advice, support, welfare benefit schemes
- Information, awareness and self-management/education
- Befriending
- Employment and lifeskills training
Assist with the education and training of disadvantaged people or with youth development projects
Priorities to include:
- Education and training schemes involving areas which provide basic skills or improve employment prospects, such as lifeskills, ICT, literacy and numeracy; and sports/arts/environment only where appropriate
- Youth development projects which help disadvantaged, vulnerable or at risk young people aged 13 upwards usually involving education and training but can include activities
The Trustees can only consider projects operating in Scotland, apart from medical research where relevant applications can be made for centres of excellence throughout the UK.
What we do not fund
There are, however, a number of areas and activities which the Trustees have decided that they are unable to support;
- Organisations that are not formally recognised as charities
- Individuals – including students
- Expeditions, overseas travel or international projects
- Projects outwith Scotland, except for medical research
- General appeals or circulars, including contributions to endowment funds
- Animal welfare
- The bricks and mortar aspect of large capital appeals
- Initiatives focused on sports, arts or the environment except where the subject is being used as a vehicle to engage with one of the Trust’s core policy groups
- Statutory requirements of local authorities, hospitals, schools, universities and colleges
- Projects which are primarily intended to promote political or religious beliefs
- Organisations under the control of the UK Government
You can download a copy of the Trust's Guidelines for Applicants in PDF format here.