Postcode Innovation Trust

Charity Number: CUSTOM_5F3F4298

Annual Expenditure: £30.5M

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Quick Stats

  • Annual Turnover: £30.54M (2023)
  • Charity Number: SC046499
  • Dream Fund Total: £20M awarded to 35 projects (since inception)
  • Grant Range: £50,000 - £1,250,000 (depending on programme)
  • Geographic Focus: Great Britain
  • Decision Time: 2 weeks (EOI response) + several weeks to investment panel

Contact Details

Address: 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET

Email: info@postcodeinnovationtrust.org.uk

Website: www.postcodeinnovationtrust.org.uk

Dream Fund Website: www.postcodedreamfund.org.uk

Overview

Postcode Innovation Trust was established in 2016 as a grant-giving body funded entirely by players of People's Postcode Lottery. The Trust is governed by an independent board of trustees who are responsible for making all funding decisions. With an annual turnover of £30.54M (2023), the organization has a mission to support charities and social enterprises to deliver impactful, innovative and engaging initiatives across Great Britain. The Trust operates four programmes: Social Investment Programme, Social Enterprise Support Programme, Postcode Dream Fund, and Postcode Recovery Fund. The Dream Fund alone has supported 35 'Dream' projects to date, awarding £20 million to inspirational initiatives. The Trust is registered in Scotland with charity number SC046499 and company number SC532119.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

1. Postcode Dream Fund - Closed application process

  • Grant Amount: Up to £1,250,000 per project
  • Duration: 24-36 months
  • Application Method: Invitation only - the Trust takes a proactive and targeted approach to identifying and inviting charities to apply
  • The Dream Fund no longer accepts unsolicited applications

2. Social Investment Programme - Closed application with EOI process

  • Investment Range: £50,000 - £300,000
  • Structure: 50% loan, 50% grant (standard); 60% loan, 40% grant (revenue participation option)
  • Interest Rate: Fixed 3% annual on loan portion
  • Application Method: Expression of Interest (EOI) form available; four investment rounds per year
  • Capacity: Maximum of 16 social enterprises taken to investment committee stage per year (4 per round)

3. Social Enterprise Support Programme - Closed application

  • Focus: Non-financial support for social entrepreneurs
  • Application Method: Invitation only
  • Provides funding to organizations that deliver capacity building, mentoring, and leadership programmes

4. Postcode Recovery Fund (Historical - 2021)

  • Offered up to £1 million for projects addressing systemic societal issues related to the pandemic
  • Total award fund of £3 million

Priority Areas

The Trust focuses on four key funding themes:

  1. Bright Futures - Social Care, Education, Children & Young People, support for people with disabilities or additional needs
  2. Thriving Together - Health, Wellbeing, and Supported Housing
  3. Natural World - Environmental protection, restoration, and sustainability
  4. Fairer Communities - Building fairer, more inclusive communities, prevention or relief of poverty

The Trust seeks organizations demonstrating:

  • Innovation and originality
  • Ambition to scale impact
  • Strong social or environmental mission
  • Collaborative approaches
  • Projects that go “beyond the minimum”

What They Don't Fund

Social Investment Programme exclusions:

  • Working capital or short-term cash flow needs
  • Bridging finance or debt refinancing
  • Routine building or infrastructure maintenance
  • Projects without clear impact links
  • Organizations with poor credit history
  • Organizations with weak governance structures
  • Organizations lacking repayment capacity
  • Organizations not seeking to grow trading income
  • Schedule 3 CICs or private limited share companies

Eligible entities only:

  • Registered charities
  • Community Interest Companies (limited guarantee/specific share structures)
  • Community Benefit Societies
  • Industrial & Provident Societies
  • Charitable Incorporated Organizations
  • Companies limited by guarantee with mission lock
  • Must be based in Great Britain
  • Must be non-profit with asset lock
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Governance and Leadership

Postcode Innovation Trust is governed by an independent board of trustees who are responsible for making all funding decisions. The board was established in 2016.

Key Trustees:

  • Lang Banks - Director of WWF Scotland, currently on secondment as Director of Campaigns working across the UK, Europe and globally on environmental issues such as climate change and species conservation
  • Lawson Muncaster - Founder of City AM, Britain's most widely-read daily business newspaper, and managing director since its inception in 2005
  • Emma - Internationally recognised social entrepreneur with expertise in business growth and strategy, entrepreneurship and international development innovation. Currently Director at Spring Impact, which focuses on scaling social innovations
  • Carolyn - Leads all Charity Bank's lending activities and sits on the Executive Committee of the Bank
  • Richard - Freelance writer and researcher on the environment, writes a weekly column in the Scotsman newspaper, with strong background in policy and leadership roles in environmental non-government organisations in Scotland

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

Social Investment Programme:

  1. Submit a short Expression of Interest (EOI) form (approximately 10 minutes to complete)
  2. Trust responds within two weeks of receiving EOI
  3. If invited, complete full application
  4. Trust team conducts detailed review and prepares internal investment proposal
  5. Invited to pitch in person at Edinburgh office to investment panel
  6. Investment panel makes recommendation
  7. Final approval by trustees two weeks after panel

Dream Fund:

  • No open application process
  • Trust proactively identifies and approaches charities
  • Selected organizations invited to apply after period of internal research
  • Must involve collaboration between at least two organisations (one being a registered charity)

Social Enterprise Support Programme:

  • Closed application basis
  • No unsolicited applications accepted

Decision Timeline

Social Investment Programme:

  • EOI response: 2 weeks
  • Four investment rounds per year (quarterly)
  • Full process timeline varies but includes multiple stages from application to trustee approval
  • Total process from EOI to final decision: Approximately 2-4 months

Dream Fund:

  • Timeline varies as applications are by invitation only
  • Trust welcomes draft submissions ahead of deadlines and provides feedback

Success Rates

  • Social Investment Programme: Maximum of 16 social enterprises per year taken to investment committee stage across four rounds (4 per round)
  • Dream Fund: 35 projects funded with £20 million awarded since inception
  • Applications that score highly in originality, ambition, and collaborative nature have highest success rates

Reapplication Policy

Not specifically stated in available documentation. Given the invitation-only approach for most programmes, organizations may submit expressions of interest at any time for consideration in future funding rounds.

Application Success Factors

Direct Guidance from the Trust

For Dream Fund applications, the Trust explicitly states that projects scoring highly in these areas have the best chances:

  • Originality: Ideas must be innovative and original
  • Ambition: Projects should be bold and transformative
  • Collaborative nature: Must involve at least two organizations working together

The Trust seeks organizations that take “innovative approaches that go beyond the minimum” with “ambitious, well-designed” projects capable of “delivering meaningful, measurable change.”

Funded Project Examples

Recent Dream Fund Winners (£3.75M round):

  1. The SMART Suit (£1.25M) - Revolutionary assistive technology suit for young people who have lost the ability to use their arms, delivering independence, discrete power and comfort
  1. Space 4 Nature - Integrating earth observation satellite data with AI to map the natural environment in unprecedented ways, using citizen science to engage landowners, businesses, and communities
  1. Nature Positive Food Challenge (£1.25M) - Delivering food that enhances nature and wildlife on supermarket shelves within two years

Other Notable Funded Projects:

  • Diagnosis Revolution - Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Research UK collaborating to transform dementia diagnosis through new blood biomarker test for NHS
  • Wilder Blean (£1.125M) - Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust introducing European bison into UK woodland for first time in modern history
  • The Bay - Nature and Wellbeing Programme for people in Morecambe Bay
  • The Water Works - Addressing soil desiccation and erosion of biodiversity in the Fens

Social Enterprise Support Programme Recipients:

  • Capacity (Liverpool City Region and Cheshire)
  • Hatch (incubator and accelerator programmes for underrepresented founders)
  • Impact Hub London (Feeding the City: Accelerate programme)
  • Social Enterprise Academy (Leadership and Enterprise Programmes)
  • Social Investment Scotland (Ambitions Masterclass Programme)
  • School for Social Entrepreneurs (capacity building learning programmes)

Key Language and Terminology

The Trust uses terms that emphasize:

  • “Dream” projects - thinking big and ambitious
  • “Innovation” - original approaches and new solutions
  • “Impact” - clear, measurable social or environmental change
  • “Collaboration” - partnerships between organizations
  • “Sustainability” - long-term viability and growth potential
  • “Trading income” - earned revenue models for social enterprises

Tips for Standing Out

  1. Demonstrate genuine innovation: Show how your project goes beyond existing solutions
  2. Think collaboratively: For Dream Fund, partnerships are mandatory; for Social Investment, show strong networks
  3. Be ambitious: Small-scale projects are unlikely to be funded - think transformational change
  4. Show clear impact pathways: Articulate how you will achieve “meaningful, measurable change”
  5. For Social Investment: Demonstrate how repayable finance will grow your earned income (not just sustain operations)
  6. Submit drafts: The Trust welcomes draft submissions and provides feedback
  7. Focus on scalability: Show how your project can grow and expand impact over time
  8. Strong governance matters: Weak governance is explicitly excluded from funding

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  1. Invitation-only model: Most programmes operate on closed application basis - submit an Expression of Interest to get on their radar rather than waiting for open calls
  1. Innovation is paramount: The Trust's name reflects its core value - projects must demonstrate genuine innovation, not incremental improvements to existing approaches
  1. Large grant sizes available: With Dream Fund grants up to £1.25M and social investment up to £300,000, this funder supports significant projects - don't think small
  1. Collaboration required for Dream Fund: At least two organizations must work together, with one being a registered charity - start building partnerships early
  1. Social Investment is hybrid finance: The 50/50 loan-grant model means you must demonstrate repayment capacity and plans to grow earned income, not just deliver services
  1. Strong alignment with lottery players: All funding comes from People's Postcode Lottery players - projects should resonate with public interest and demonstrate broad societal benefit
  1. Geographic focus is Great Britain: Must operate within England, Scotland, or Wales - no international or Northern Ireland-only projects
  1. Quarterly investment rounds: For Social Investment, timing your EOI submission strategically around their four annual rounds may improve your chances
  1. Feedback is available: Unlike many funders, they welcome draft submissions and provide feedback - take advantage of this support
  1. High bar for impact: With only 16 social enterprises per year funded through Social Investment and 35 Dream Fund projects total since inception, competition is fierce - ensure your project truly stands out

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