Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust

Open (with deadline for applications) Arts, culture and heritage Health, wellbeing and sport Miscellaneous Refugees and asylum seekers Great Britain Northern Ireland Micro (up to £1,000) Small (up to £10,000)

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Overview

They award grants to registered UK charities that work with communities in the UK.

They aim to give grants to those in society who face the greatest challenges and whose opportunities are most limited.

As there is an ever-growing need for grants to support the essential work that many charities do, they are gradually making their criteria and priorities more focussed to ensure that they can give the limited resources that they have to projects that they believe will do the most to help those with greatest need.

They welcome applications from any charity that meets their criteria.

Eligibility

They are committed to awarding grants to those most in need.

To be eligible to apply for a grant:

your charity’s project must fall within one of the current priorities;
your charity’s income and expenditure must meet the requirements for the relevant Grant Round;
your charity’s project must not be on the list of projects or organisations that we don’t fund;
your charity must be registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales (or equivalent body for Scotland and Northern Ireland) unless on the list of exempt charities – they are unable to give grants to CICs, CIOs or non-profit organisations.

Please check all these details. They have limited administration resources, and appreciate charities’ cooperation in ensuring that they work together to focus on our priority causes.

They focus on different priorities every year.

In 2025, they will prioritise Access to the Arts and Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

They continue to recognise that Black Lives Matter has thrown a spotlight on the discrimination faced by the Global Majority. Across each grant round, applicants will be asked to detail how their project addresses these issues.

For 2025:

Grant Rounds 1 and 2

The Arts: Improving Access

The focus will be on performing arts projects that improve audience access and participation. They won’t consider applications from non-performing arts projects, or projects focussing on performers.

Grant Rounds 3 and 4

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

To be eligible, a project must focus exclusively on refugees and/or asylum seekers as its beneficiaries, without extending services to other groups. They don’t fund salaries for charity staff unless specifically employed for the project concerned.

For 2026:

Grant rounds 1 and 2

People experiencing or at risk of homelessness

Focussing on projects that provide life skills, including food education, healthy living and budgeting. Priority will be given to people leaving the armed forces, leaving prison or care. They don’t fund salaries for charity staff unless specifically employed for the project concerned.

Grant rounds 3 and 4

Unpaid carers

Projects that provide therapeutic support, including healthy eating and outdoor activities. To be eligible, a project must focus exclusively on unpaid carers as its beneficiaries, without extending services to other groups. They don’t fund salaries for charity staff unless specifically employed for the project concerned.

Details

Grant Round 1

Application Period - 1st - 28th February
Amount - £1,000
Eligibility
- Minimum operating income : £100,000.
- Minimum operating expenditure: £100,000.
- Maximum operating income: £1,000,000.
- Maximum operating expenditure:£1,000,000.

Grant Round 2

Application Period - 1st - 30th April
Amount - £5,000
Eligibility
- Minimum operating income: £1,000,000.
- Minimum operating expenditure: £1,000,000.

There is no maximum income or expenditure.

Grant Round 3

Application Period - 1st - 31st July
Amount - £1,000
Eligibility
- Minimum operating income : £100,000.
- Minimum operating expenditure: £100,000.
- Maximum operating income: £1,000,000.
- Maximum operating expenditure: £1,000,000.

Grant Round 4

Application Period - 1st - 30th September
Amount - £5,000
Eligibility
- Minimum operating income: £1,000,000.
- Minimum operating expenditure: £1,000,000.

There is no maximum income or expenditure.

Notes:

They endeavour to support a diverse range of charities – that is, charities involved in diverse communities in a wide range of issues. Going forward, they will endeavour to consider the diversity of the charities they support.

Please read their full Diversity Statement here.