The Baring Foundation

Charity Number: 258583

Annual Expenditure: £5.4M
Throughout England And Wales

Contact Info

Website: www.baringfoundation.org.uk

Phone: 020 7767 1348

Email: baring.foundation@ing.com

Be the first to know about new funding opportunities

Get notified when we add new funders to the directory

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: £5,447,015 (2023)
  • Success Rate: Not publicly disclosed
  • Decision Time: 3-4 weeks (varies by program)
  • Grant Range: £3,500 - £170,000 (typical)
  • Geographic Focus: UK-wide (some programs regionally specific)

Contact Details

Address: 8-10 Moorgate, London EC2R 6DA

Website: www.baringfoundation.org.uk

Email: baring.foundation@ing.com

Phone: 020 7767 1348

Pre-application Support: The Foundation welcomes phone calls from potential new grantees to confirm eligibility, discuss ideas, and share information about organisations. They encourage early contact rather than submitting an ineligible application.

Overview

Founded in 1969 as a corporate foundation of Barings Bank, The Baring Foundation became an independent grant-making foundation in 1995 following the bank's collapse, relying on an endowment from the Manor Park Charitable Trust. With charitable expenditure of £5.4 million in 2023, the Foundation has distributed over £120 million since its inception. The Foundation's mission is “promoting human rights and inclusion,” with all grant-making aimed at challenging discrimination and disadvantage. Director David Cutler emphasises that “the unifying factor for the foundation is that everything that we do is about human rights, everything is about challenging discrimination and disadvantage.” The Foundation operates three focused programs: Arts and Mental Health, Strengthening Civil Society, and International Development. In recent years, the Foundation committed a minimum of £3 million over five years specifically ringfenced for racial justice and anti-racist work, representing approximately 20% of their spending. They are a living wage employer and publish open grants data through 360Giving.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

1. Arts and Mental Health Programme

  • Funding: Over £1 million available annually until at least 2029
  • Typical grants: £20,000 - £50,000
  • Focus: Participatory arts for people living with mental health problems
  • Application method: Periodic open funding rounds announced on website
  • Recent emphasis:
  • Creative opportunities for men with mental health problems
  • Global Majority-led arts organisations
  • Partnerships with Arts Councils across UK nations
  • Eligibility: Organisations must focus solely on creative opportunities for people with mental health problems (not as part of broader work)

2. Strengthening Civil Society Programme

  • Funding: Currently in second five-year phase (2020-2025)
  • Special allocation: £2 million ringfenced for legal action addressing racial injustice
  • Typical grants: Varies, but significant multi-year grants available
  • Focus: Supporting use of law and human rights-based approaches for social justice
  • Application method: Periodic funding rounds; some regional focus (North of England)
  • Eligibility: Upper annual income limit of £1.5 million
  • Sub-programs include:
  • Implementation of Successful Litigation Fund
  • Hub organisations for legal capacity building
  • Collaborative legal action initiatives

3. International Development Programme

  • Funding: By invitation only
  • Focus: Empowering LGBTI communities in sub-Saharan Africa
  • Recent initiative: Equal Safe and Free partnership fund (multi-donor collaboration)
  • Geographic focus: Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly supporting LGBTI women's rights

Priority Areas

  • Participatory arts engaging people with mental health problems
  • Legal action tackling discrimination and disadvantage
  • Human rights-based approaches to social change
  • Racial justice and anti-racist work
  • LGBTI rights in Africa
  • Strengthening voluntary sector capacity
  • Collaborative approaches between legal and civil society organisations
  • Creative opportunities for men and Global Majority communities
  • Protection of access to public law remedies

What They Don't Fund

  • Work already fully funded (though extensions/expansions may be considered)
  • Organisations undertaking creativity with mental health as one part of broader work (Arts programme requires sole focus)
  • New litigation or organisations with litigation as core business (for Implementation Fund)
  • Implementation work not yet started or litigation applicant wasn't involved in
  • International work for UK-focused funds
  • Applications outside open funding rounds (except International Development by invitation)
  • General appeals or applications from clearly ineligible organisations

Governance and Leadership

Director

David Cutler - Led Carnegie UK Trust's initiative on young people and decision making and the DIVERT Trust before joining the Baring Foundation. In interviews, Cutler emphasises the Foundation's commitment to diversity and human rights, noting: "It's important that they both came from ethnic minority communities and a lot of their work has also been with ethnic minority communities, and you have a white director in me. So there is a conscious, quite deliberate approach of, let's make sure we get advice from a broad selection of people.“ On partnerships, he stated: ”Our partnership with the Churchill Fellowship has been essential in placing the UK at the cutting edge of good practice."

Deputy Director

David - Joined the Baring Foundation as Deputy Director in 2014, previously working as a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP.

Chair of Trustees

Vicki Dela - Appointed Chair in June 2023. Originally trained as a scientist and founded Upswing, an award-winning circus performance company, in 2006 where she serves as Artistic Director.

Trustees Include:

  • Rhys - Qualified solicitor working in Wholesale Banking Compliance within ING Bank; chairs the Foundation's Audit Committee
  • Judith Robertson - Former Chair of Scottish Human Rights Commission; previously Campaigns Manager and Head of Oxfam Scotland
  • Aaliya Seyal - Chief Executive of Legal Services Agency with over twenty years' experience in leadership roles across the voluntary legal advice sector

Arts Advisers

  • Sabra Khan - Supporting Arts and Mental Health programme
  • Daniel Regan - Supporting Arts and Mental Health programme

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

1. Check Eligibility First

  • Review specific program guidelines on website
  • If unsure, email with 200-word query rather than submitting full ineligible application
  • Call to discuss ideas and confirm eligibility

2. Application System

  • Online application system for all open funding rounds
  • Automated confirmation screen and email upon submission
  • Some programs use three-stage process to reduce burden on organisations

3. Application Design

The Foundation has “tried to keep the application process as simple as possible, with a single written application assessment” for most programs.

4. Program-Specific Requirements

  • Arts Programme: Applications only when funding rounds are open; sign up for Arts newsletter for announcements
  • Strengthening Civil Society: Some funds require registered office in North of England and activity benefiting Northern communities
  • International Development: By invitation only

Decision Timeline

Typical timeframes vary by program:

  • Example from recent Arts round: Applications closed mid-August, decisions by mid-September (approximately 3-4 weeks)
  • Multi-stage processes may take longer
  • Applicants notified via email

Success Rates

The Foundation does not publicly disclose application success rates. However, they acknowledge funding rounds are “highly competitive with many worthy applicants” they cannot support. Recent data points:

  • Global Majority-led Arts round: Significant competition with many strong applications
  • Foundation makes grants comparatively, selecting applications that most closely meet published criteria
  • Some organisations meeting most or all criteria may still not receive funding if others met them better overall

Reapplication Policy

  • No specific waiting period mentioned for unsuccessful applicants
  • Foundation states they are “committed to continuing to fund in their areas for a long time to come”
  • Unsuccessful applicants encouraged to apply in future rounds
  • Applications assessed strictly against published criteria on comparative basis
  • Foundation aims to minimize unsuccessful applications by providing clear guidelines

Application Success Factors

Direct Advice from the Funder

Before Applying:

  • “Read Guidelines Carefully” - Foundation receives applications from clearly ineligible organisations
  • "If you're unsure about eligibility, email them to double check if your work falls in line with what they're looking for – it's better to write a 200 word email than a 2,000 word application only to find out you weren't eligible"
  • “They welcome phone calls from potential new grantees to confirm eligibility, run your idea by them or share more about your organisation, and you should do this as soon as you can”

For Collaborative Legal Work:

  • “They encourage collaborative working when using the law to achieve social change”
  • “Expect you to clearly outline the approach to collaboration and the roles each organisation will have”

Application Assessment:

  • Bids assessed strictly against published criteria
  • Decisions are comparative - some meeting most or all criteria may not be funded if others met them better
  • Foundation seeks to fund organisations that most closely align with their specific program goals

Recently Funded Projects (Examples)

Arts & Mental Health:

  • Creative writing with people with mental health problems in Glasgow
  • Exploring disability and mental health through film-arts in rural Scottish Borders
  • Innovative social prescribing programme in Caithness
  • Arts Boost in Hwyel Dda UHB (Wales) - arts in mental health for children and young people
  • 'Sharing Hope' project (Swansea Bay UHB) - NHS staff trauma support through creative sessions
  • 23 projects in Northern Ireland through joint fund with ACNI (£400,000 total)
  • 13 organisations across Scotland through Creative Scotland partnership (£293,199 total)

Strengthening Civil Society:

  • Legal action addressing racial injustice in criminal justice system
  • Human rights advocacy projects
  • Collaborative legal capacity building

International Development:

  • Equal Safe and Free partnership fund supporting grassroots LGBT+ organisations in Global South and East

Language and Terminology

  • “Participatory arts” - trained artists working with people
  • “Human rights-based approaches”
  • “Challenging discrimination and disadvantage”
  • “Strengthening civil society”
  • “Global Majority communities” (not “BAME”)
  • “People living with mental health problems” (person-first language)
  • “Collaborative legal action”
  • “Social justice”

Standing Out

  1. Demonstrate sole focus (for Arts programme) - organisations must concern themselves only with creative mental health work, not as part of broader offering
  2. Show collaborative approach - Foundation values partnerships and working across organisations
  3. Align with specific criteria - applications are assessed comparatively, so strong alignment is essential
  4. Evidence-based approach - particularly for legal work, demonstrate clear strategy and expected outcomes
  5. Engage early - pre-application contact is welcomed and encouraged
  6. Address intersectionality - Foundation committed to racial justice and diversity
  7. Long-term thinking - many programs are multi-year commitments

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Pre-application engagement is crucial: The Foundation explicitly welcomes and encourages phone calls and emails before submission. Use this opportunity to confirm eligibility and discuss your approach.
  • Highly competitive process requires strong alignment: With comparative assessment, meeting criteria isn't enough - you must demonstrate strongest possible fit with program priorities. Don't apply if only partially aligned.
  • Sole focus matters for Arts programme: If mental health arts work is part of broader programming, you're ineligible. This is a clear and firm exclusion.
  • Income thresholds are real barriers: £1.5m cap for Strengthening Civil Society; under £1m for some Arts opportunities. Check specific program requirements.
  • Collaboration is valued and sometimes required: Particularly for legal work, demonstrate how you'll work with others and define clear roles.
  • Timing is everything: Most programs operate on funding rounds, not rolling basis. Sign up for program-specific newsletters and watch website for announcements.
  • International Development is invitation-only: Don't submit unsolicited applications for this program - focus on Arts or Strengthening Civil Society if relevant.
  • They practice what they preach on equity: With ringfenced funding for racial justice, prioritization of Global Majority-led organisations, and deliberate diversity in governance, demonstrate how your work advances equity and challenges discrimination.

Similar Funders

These funders frequently fund the same charities:

References

  1. The Baring Foundation official website - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/
  2. The Baring Foundation - Our Grantmaking - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/our-grant-making/
  3. The Baring Foundation - Our History - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/about-us/our-history/
  4. The Baring Foundation - Can I apply? - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/our-grant-making/can-i-apply/
  5. The Baring Foundation - Arts and Mental Health Programme - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/programme/arts-and-mental-health/what-we-want-to-achieve/
  6. The Baring Foundation - Strengthening Civil Society Programme - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/programme/strengthening-civil-society/what-we-want-to-achieve-3/
  7. UK Charity Commission Register - The Baring Foundation (258583) - https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/258583
  8. 360Giving GrantNav - The Baring Foundation - https://grantnav.threesixtygiving.org/org/GB-CHC-258583
  9. “A review of 2023: a message from our Chair” - The Baring Foundation - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/blog-post/a-review-of-2023-a-message-from-our-chair/
  10. “Our hubs funding: what you need to know” - The Baring Foundation - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/blog-post/our-hubs-funding-what-you-need-to-know/
  11. “Applying for COVID-19 legal action funding? Seven things to know” - The Baring Foundation - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/blog-post/applying-for-covid-19-legal-action-funding-seven-things-to-know/
  12. “The Baring Foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary” - Alliance Magazine - https://www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/the-baring-foundation-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary/
  13. “A Culture of Possibility Podcast #51, David Cutler of the Baring Foundation on Arts and Mental Health” - Medium - https://arlenegoldbard-1818.medium.com/a-culture-of-possibility-podcast-51-david-cutler-of-the-baring-foundation-on-arts-and-mental-34ee49489163
  14. "New Arts & Mental Health partnerships with national Arts Councils" - The Baring Foundation - https://baringfoundation.org.uk/news-story/new-arts-mental-health-partnerships-with-national-arts-councils/
  15. Inside Philanthropy - Baring Foundation profile - https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-b/baring-foundation