Downing Place URC

Registered charity 1131462 · since 2009downingplaceurc.org·Cambridge·Updated 29 October 2026

Key takeaways

Downing Place URC names Cambridge as its priority, and its giving also reaches churches, schools, aid projects and local development, so a charity working in Cambridge with one of those purposes is the clearest fit.
It gave a total of £30k over the last year, shared among charities, but no grant range is stated, so keep any request modest rather than assuming a particular award size.
No application process is published, so the sensible first step is to contact the church using the contact shown and ask how it considers requests.
Members approve each monthly good cause through occasional retiring collections, which suggests a group decision, so a response may take time.
Its giving sometimes runs through personal connections, so a warm introduction may help, but nothing stated shows how competitive it is.

Overview

Downing Place URC is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1131462).

Downing Place URC is a charity that advances the Christian faith for the benefit of the public, in accordance with the Scheme of Union of the United Reformed Church. Over the last year it gave a total of £30k, spread amongst charities. Its giving runs through two programmes: the Earmarked Funds & Giving for Others Fund, which supports charitable causes through monthly appeals and donations, and the York Street Fund, which receives a grant and distributes it to good causes at home and overseas.

What they fund

Priority Areas

Downing Place URC gives to charitable causes through monthly appeals and donations, including causes at home and overseas. In Cambridge, it supports local organisations and charities. Its wider giving includes churches, schools, aid projects and local development, sometimes through personal connections. The church describes its local mission as practical support for Cambridge organisations and its world mission as involvement with charities, churches and communities throughout the world. It promotes overseas aid charities and participates in international justice work. The giving described spans local community organisations and overseas charitable, church, educational and development activity.

Themes

Local charities
Churches
Schools
Aid projects
Local development

Geographic Focus

Priority: Cambridge.

How to apply

No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry or its website. The contact shown is for getting in touch.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

Members approve the monthly good cause supported through occasional retiring collections.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

Cambridge

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Downing Place URC.

United Charities of CambridgeRollingGave £135k Great St Mary'sNo public processGave £10,906 The Church Schools of CambridgeRollingGave £403k Trinity College CambridgeNo public processGave £7.3M City Church CambridgeNo public process St Michael's Church, SouthfieldsNo public processGave £28,551 Christ Church KensingtonNo public processGave £34,376 St Oswald's Church, Croxley GreenNo public processGave £8,805 St Michael & All Angels, TettenhallNo public processGave £4,457 Notting Hill Methodist ChurchNo public processGave £180k

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 December 2020	£456,395	£352,451	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2020
year to 31 December 2021	£440,153	£406,223	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2021
year to 31 December 2022	£675,613	£521,425	£175,844	Accounts for year to 31 December 2022
year to 31 December 2023	£449,890	£587,864	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2023
year to 31 December 2024	£426,028	£600,477	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2024

Grants paid, year to 31 December 2022: grants to institutions, as reported on the charity register (Part B).

Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.