Royal Docks Trust (London)

Registered charity 1045057 · since 1995royaldockstrust.org.uk·Newham·Updated 31 October 2026

At a glance

£308k

Annual giving, year to 31 March 2025

From filed accounts

Open to applications

A mix of rolling and fixed deadlines · unsolicited applications welcome

Key takeaways

If your organisation serves people in the Docklands part of Newham, the Trust's stated priorities (education and training, children and young people, youth work, culture, leisure and sport, older people, and disability and mental health) may fit your work.
Its focus is the Docklands area of L B Newham, and it excludes activities outside its Area of Benefit within Newham unless they directly benefit people in that area.
The Trust states Medium Grants at £5,000 to £10,000 and Minor Grants at up to £2,000, so a request in those ranges is a realistic starting point, and it encourages applicants to contact it before applying.
Organisations need a not-for-profit constitution, a management committee, an equal opportunities and/or diversity policy, and a local base, and individuals, general appeals and unsolicited appeals are not funded, so organisations without these should not apply.
The Medium Grants programme does not fund projects whose primary purpose is buying equipment, and Minor Grants do not cover ongoing running costs except start-up costs, so frame your request accordingly.

Overview

Royal Docks Trust (London) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1045057).

Royal Docks Trust (London) is a registered charity that works to provide community benefits to the Docklands part of Newham, between the A13 and the River Thames. Its central belief is that properly supported local community organisations will help build a thriving and vibrant Newham Docklands community, so funding those groups is a key objective. It gives grants to community and voluntary organisations rather than providing direct services or grants to individuals. It runs an annual grants programme, a Medium Grants programme of £5,000 to £10,000, and Minor Grants of up to £2,000. The Trust approved expenditure totalling £400,000 for its grants programme.

What they fund

Priority Areas

The Trust provides grants to community and voluntary organisations serving the Docklands part of Newham, rather than providing direct services or grants to individuals. Its broad purposes cover education and vocational training, relief of poverty and sickness, recreation and leisure, housing for people in need, public education in the arts, heritage buildings, charitable work by religious orders, and improvements to the physical and social environment. Its stated priorities include accredited education and training linked to employment; locally delivered services for children and young people; youth work; cultural activity, leisure and sport; opportunities for older people; and work benefiting disabled people, including people with learning difficulties and mental health needs. Its programmes also prioritise community integration, new local initiatives, underserved parts of the area, pilots, and work addressing loneliness, mobility or mental health.

Themes

Education and training
Children and young people
Youth work
Culture, leisure and sport
Older people
Disability and mental health

Geographic Focus

Docklands area of L B Newham.

What they don't fund

Activities/purposes outside its Area of Benefit within the London Borough of Newham, unless they directly benefit the communities within that area
General appeals for funds
Unsolicited appeals for funds (the Trust will not normally enter into correspondence in respect of them)
Applicants who are individuals
Organisations that do not have a constitution as a not-for-profit organisation
Organisations that do not have a management committee
Organisations without an equal opportunities and/or a diversity policy in place, or that are not committed to embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion throughout the organisation
Organisations without a local base from which to serve the people in the charity's area of operation
Annual grants programme only: grants outside of the annual grants programme, except Minor Grants, which are restricted to the Trust's area of benefit (the Trust will not normally consider or provide them); Projects (as distinct from individual organisations) cannot be funded for more than 3 years
Medium Grants only:
- projects or schemes whose primary purpose relates to the purchase of equipment (though part of the grant may be used for equipment)
- ongoing projects or schemes where achieving their purposes would be dependent on funding from other sources that is currently unsecured
- projects already approved for RDT funding under the Trust’s Main Grants Programme
Minor Grants only:
- revenue funding to cover the ongoing running costs of a project, except to assist with starting-up costs
- “Top-up” money for currently funded projects where a deficit is occurring
- retrospective funding where organisations have already spent money before the application has been made
- grants for social events exceeding £600 for any one event
- more than two minor grants to any one individual organisation in a financial year

How to apply

Applicants for the Annual Main Grants Programme download its information and application pack.

Who can apply:

To be eligible for a grant organisations must demonstrate that they have a constitution as a not-for-profit organisation and a management committee.
The organisation must have an equal opportunities and/or a diversity policy in place and be committed to embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion throughout the organisation.
The organisation must have a local base from which to serve the people in the charity's area of operation.

Application success factors

What the charity says:

Applicants are encouraged to contact the Trust to discuss their ideas before submitting an application.
Medium Grants welcomes short-term projects whose spending profile does not extend beyond six months from payment of the grant or its first instalment.
Medium Grants welcomes trial or pilot projects with a view to meaningful evaluation before further funding.
Medium Grants welcomes projects addressing loneliness, mobility or mental health.
Minor Grants prioritise projects that meet community social and economic needs and encourage development and integration.
Minor Grants prioritise projects that enable them to secure additional funding from other sources.
Minor Grants prioritise minor repairs to premises or equipment that help projects continue their activities.
Minor Grants help new projects to establish themselves, including through venue hire, stationery and charitable registration costs.
Minor Grants require grantees to acknowledge the grant appropriately.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

Newham

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Royal Docks Trust (London).

Aston-Mansfield Charitable TrustRollingGave £1.1M The Custom House and Canning Town Community Renewal ProjectNo public process Trinity Buoy Wharf TrustNo public processGave £345k The Essex and Southend Sports Trust (EASST)RollingGave £240k Tate & Lyle Sugars - Lyle's Local FundFixed deadlinesGave £50,000 The Fishmongers’ Company’s Charitable Trust (FCCT)Fixed deadlinesGave £3.4M Carpenters’ Company Charitable TrustNo public processGave £1.4M The Portal TrustRollingGave £2.4M Grange Farm CentreRollingGave £72,499 Deptford Challenge TrustRollingGave £300k

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 March 2021	£263,457	£173,586	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2021
year to 31 March 2022	£261,884	£344,519	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2022
year to 31 March 2023	£273,190	£430,259	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2023
year to 31 March 2024	£293,646	£399,188	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2024
year to 31 March 2025	£280,584	£482,805	£307,725	Accounts for year to 31 March 2025

Grants paid, year to 31 March 2025: grants awarded in the year, as reported in the accounts.

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.