The Audrey Wilson Charitable Settlement

Charity Number: 1160826

Annual Expenditure: £0.2M

Geographic Focus: Throughout England And Wales

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Quick Stats

Annual Giving: £170,237 (2024)
Success Rate: Very low for unsolicited applications
Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
Grant Range: Not publicly disclosed
Geographic Focus: United Kingdom
Application Method: Invitation only / Trustee discretion

Contact Details

Registered Address:

Forsters LLP

31 Hill Street

London W1J 5LS

Contact:

Email: mike.considine@kleinworthambros.com

Phone: 020 3207 7594

Note: Mike Considine is associated with Kleinwort Hambros (now Union Bancaire Privée UK Limited as of April 2025), serving as trustee contact.

Overview

THE AUDREY WILSON CHARITABLE SETTLEMENT (registered 1160826) is a private grant-making trust that operates on a selective, invitation-based model. Established as a charitable settlement, the trust annually distributes its income to carefully selected charities identified by the trustees. With annual expenditure of approximately £170,000 significantly exceeding its income of around £35,000 (drawing on capital assets), the trust demonstrates active grant-making activity. The settlement is administered through Forsters LLP, a leading London law firm specializing in charity law and private client services. The trust explicitly states that it is “unusual for the trustees to respond favourably to unsolicited appeals,” indicating a highly selective approach focused on charities with which the trustees have existing relationships or knowledge.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The trust operates a single discretionary grant program with no publicly defined application rounds or deadlines. Grants are awarded at the trustees' discretion on an annual basis.

Key Characteristics:

Annual distribution of trust income
No fixed grant amounts published
Total annual distribution approximately £170,000
Selective, relationship-based giving

Priority Areas

The trust does not publish specific priority areas or charitable themes. Grant decisions are made at the full discretion of the trustees based on their knowledge of and relationship with selected charities.

What They Don't Fund

While not explicitly stated, the trust's policy makes clear they rarely support:

Unsolicited appeals from unknown organizations
Charities without existing connections to the trustees
Organizations outside their discretionary selection process

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Governance and Leadership

The trust is governed by three trustees who receive no remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. The trust operates with administrative support from:

Forsters LLP - Legal advisors and registered address (31 Hill Street, London)
Kleinwort Hambros / Union Bancaire Privée UK - Trustee representation through Mike Considine

The trust has no employees and no trading subsidiaries, maintaining a lean operational structure focused solely on grant distribution.

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

This funder does not have a public application process.

The Audrey Wilson Charitable Settlement explicitly states: “It is unusual for the trustees to respond favourably to unsolicited appeals.”

How Grants Are Awarded:

Trustees annually distribute trust income to “certain selected charities”
Selection is based on trustee discretion and existing relationships
Only successful applicants are notified of trustees' decisions
Written appeals are considered but rarely succeed if unsolicited

What This Means:

Organizations without existing relationships with the trustees are highly unlikely to receive funding. The trust operates through a closed selection process where trustees proactively identify beneficiaries rather than responding to general applications.

Decision Timeline

Not publicly disclosed. Distributions are made annually according to the trustees' meeting schedule.

Success Rates

The trust explicitly warns that unsolicited appeals rarely succeed. While they state that “the trustees will consider all written appeals received,” the qualifier that favourable responses are “unusual” suggests an extremely low success rate for organizations unknown to the trustees.

Reapplication Policy

Not publicly disclosed. Given the closed nature of the trust's operations and low success rate for unsolicited appeals, repeat unsolicited applications are unlikely to yield different results.

Application Success Factors

Given the trust's explicit statement about unsolicited appeals, success factors are fundamentally different from open grant-makers:

What Matters:

Existing relationships with trustees - This appears to be the primary pathway to funding
Trustee knowledge of the charity - The trust funds “certain selected charities,” implying trustees have prior familiarity
Quality over volume - Despite low success rates, appeals are considered, suggesting well-crafted, targeted approaches may occasionally work

What Doesn't Work:

Mass unsolicited applications
Appeals from organizations with no connection to the trustees
Generic funding requests

From the Trust's Own Guidance:

The trust states it will “consider all written appeals received, but only successful applicants are notified.” This one-way communication policy suggests appeals should be considered carefully before submission, as organizations will not receive feedback on unsuccessful applications.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

This is effectively an invitation-only funder - While technically they accept written appeals, success without trustee connections is extremely rare
No public application process exists - Traditional grant-writing strategies are unlikely to succeed
Significant giving capacity - With £170,000+ in annual distributions, this is not a small funder, but access is restricted
Relationship-driven model - Trustee discretion and existing knowledge of charities drives all decisions
No feedback on rejections - Only successful applicants are notified, making it impossible to learn from unsuccessful attempts
Professional administration - Involvement of Forsters LLP and Kleinwort Hambros suggests sophisticated charity governance
Consider alternative approaches - Rather than direct applications, organizations might explore whether board members or major donors have connections to the trustees