Grant Making Policy

The Steel Charitable Trust is a grant-making trust supporting general charitable purposes. It is the policy of the Trustees to make grants to a wide range of charitable bodies, including those mentioned in the Deed of Settlement.

Grants are made primarily to registered charities in the UK within the following funding areas:

 * Arts and Culture                                                     * Education

 * Environment                                                           * Disadvantaged

 * Health

Please note that the Trust does not fund individuals, expeditions or any entity registered or incorporated outside the United Kingdom.

The total level of grants is expected to be £1,000,000 per annum of which approximately 30% will be made to organisations in the Luton and Bedfordshire area. Grants are generally made as single payments between £1,000 and £25,000.

The Trust receives many more applications than it has funds to support. Prospective applicants should be aware that less than 20% of the applications received are successful. In many cases it may not be possible even to make grants for projects within the funding priorities.

All applicants must complete the online application form. There is no deadline for applications and all will be acknowledged. The Trustees generally meet in February, May, August and November. At these meetings, having reviewed all applications received in the previous three months, the Trustees approve the grants to be made to the successful applicants. All successful applicants will be notified by email and will be required to provide written confirmation of the details of the project or work for which they are seeking a grant. Payment is then made in the following month.

To comply with the Data Protection Act 1998, applicants are required to consent to the use of personal data supplied by them in the processing and review of their application. This includes transfer to and use by such individuals and organisations as the Trust deems appropriate. The Trust requires the assurance of the applicant that personal data about any other individual is supplied to the Trust with his/her consent. At the point of submitting an online application, applicants are asked to confirm this consent and assurance.

A list of recent grants made is available in the Trust's accounts