The Blagrave Trust

Charity Number: 1164021

Annual Expenditure: £4.2M
Throughout England

Contact Info

Website: www.blagravetrust.org

Phone: 07713643209

Email: grants@blagravetrust.org

Be the first to know about new funding opportunities

Get notified when we add new funders to the directory

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: ~£3,000,000
  • Success Rate: 9% at outline stage, 90%+ once taken to trustees
  • Decision Time: 2 months for grants under £20k; 3 months for grants over £20k
  • Grant Range: £10,000 - No set maximum (capped at 20% of organisation's turnover)
  • Geographic Focus: Regional (Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Wiltshire) and National (England-wide for direct youth funding and strategic initiatives)

Contact Details

Website: www.blagravetrust.org

Email: grants@blagravetrust.org

Phone: 07713643209

Overview

The Blagrave Trust was established in 1978 under the wills of Herbert and Peter Blagrave, receiving its endowment of approximately £50 million in 1981. The Trust is a Charity Incorporated Organisation (charity number 1164021) with investment assets of approximately £26.3 million as of May 2024. With an annual grant spend of approximately £3 million and a lean team of eight staff members, the Trust seeks to bring lasting change to the lives of young people aged 14-25 facing challenge and disadvantage, enabling them to make a positive transition to adulthood. The Trust takes a distinctive approach to funding, emphasizing youth-led change, relational and trusting partnerships, and predominantly unrestricted funding over three-year periods. The Trust has made significant strides in centering young people in decision-making, including appointing young people as trustees with full decision-making power.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Regional Programme: £10,000+ per year for up to 3 years (potentially renewable to 9 years)

  • For youth organisations in Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, and Wiltshire
  • Unrestricted grants preferred
  • Minimum £10,000 per year, no set maximum but capped at 20% of organisation's annual turnover
  • Organisations must have annual turnover under £5 million

Pathways Fund: £60,000 - £90,000 (£20,000-£30,000 per year over 3 years)

  • Core grants for youth-led groups mobilising change in their community
  • Includes significant support offer alongside funding
  • 17 partners funded since 2022

Direct Youth Funding: Variable amounts

  • Funds young people directly across England
  • Supports individuals, collectives, and social enterprises
  • Prioritises young people with lived experience of injustices they're trying to change

Youth Power Fund: £5,000 - £45,000

  • Spark funding: up to £5,000 for one year
  • Accelerator funding: up to £15,000 per year for three years
  • Delivered in partnership with Foyer Federation

Strategic Initiatives: Variable amounts

  • Funds initiatives supporting youth-led change field
  • Often delivered in partnership with other organisations

Priority Areas

  • Youth-led social change and activism
  • Supporting young people aged 14-25 (with regional focus on 16-25) facing disadvantage and challenge
  • Work addressing social injustice and power imbalances
  • Youth involvement in policy-making and decision-making
  • Supporting vulnerable young people through transition to adulthood
  • Organisations with deep, long-lasting impact on young people
  • Projects where young people have direct input and leadership

What They Don't Fund

General Exclusions:

  • Individuals or unconstituted groups (for regional funding)
  • Work with under 16s (regional programme specifically)
  • National organisations wanting to expand locally into their regions
  • Religious promotion or party political work
  • Capital appeals
  • Adult-led organisations launching work on behalf of young people
  • Work that could be funded by specialist funders (e.g., Arts Council)
  • One-off projects unlikely to lead to longer-term change
  • Young people who have never done any prior social justice work
  • Established changemakers who already have significant funding
  • Work primarily focused on educating young people on democratic processes or voter registration
  • Work not compliant with charity law
  • Social justice themes that are oppressive

Eligibility Restrictions:

  • Organisations with income over £10 million
  • Organisations based outside England
  • Regional funding: organisations outside Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, and Wiltshire

Governance and Leadership

Chief Executive Officer: Eli Manderson Evans - "a multilingual master's graduate with a passion for social change, justice and bringing frontline voices and experts of experience into positions of influence"

Chair of Trustees: Segun Olowookere (appointed November, joined as trustee 2019) - A qualified management accountant working as Finance Director at the Children's Society. Passionate about inspiring young people. On sharing power, he states: "I don't want it to be like, 'Hey, I'm the chair and I hold the power and have all the final decisions.' I would love to be able to share power as a board."

Previous CEO: Jo Wells (served nearly 10 years) - “From the beginning of my time here, I was sure that some of the worst dynamics I saw [while delivering international aid] were not going to be part of the Blagrave narrative.”

The Trust is actively appointing young people as trustees with full decision-making power, demonstrating their commitment to youth leadership. Young people also serve as advisors throughout the organisation.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

Current Status: Applications are currently paused for most programmes. Interested applicants should sign up for notifications on the website when funding opportunities reopen.

Regional Programme: Applications accepted until September 1, 2025 via online form at www.blagravetrust.org/apply-for-funding/

Application Stages:

  1. Research their approach and work to confirm eligibility
  2. Submit initial proposal via online form
  3. Receive response within one month if no strategic fit
  4. Potential meeting or call to discuss proposal in more depth
  5. Final decision communicated

Requirements: Applicants should prepare supporting documents including annual reports and be ready to discuss their proposal in depth.

Decision Timeline

Grants under £20,000 per year:

  • Decided by minimum of 3 Blagrave team members
  • Rolling monthly decisions
  • Decision within 2 months from initial submission

Grants over £20,000 per year:

  • Taken to Blagrave Trustees
  • Trustee meetings held five times per year: January, April, June, September, November
  • Decision within 3 months

Initial screening: Within one month, applicants will be notified if there is no strategic fit or if the Trust cannot fund the work.

Success Rates

Outline proposal stage: 9% success rate - highly selective initial screening (approximately 1 in 11 proposals progress)

Trustee stage: 90%+ success rate - once a proposal reaches trustees, approval is very likely

This two-stage approach means the Trust invests significant time in exploring proposals before taking them to trustees, ensuring strong alignment before formal consideration.

Reapplication Policy

The Trust provides feedback to unsuccessful applicants, particularly for their Roots & Routes Fund. Specific reapplication policies and waiting periods are not publicly documented. Applicants are encouraged to contact grants@blagravetrust.org for guidance on reapplication after an unsuccessful attempt.

Application Success Factors

Direct Advice from the Funder:

The Trust explicitly states: "You can use AI to help you put together your funding application - your application won't be rejected just because you have used AI but you should bear in mind they can usually tell." They advise applicants to verify AI-generated content independently and be mindful of AI's environmental impact and data privacy.

What They Look For:

  1. Youth Leadership: Genuine youth involvement in decision-making and leadership, not tokenism. As their young advisor states: "I think it's right to give the power to young people – if adults do it on our behalf they are likely to get it wrong."
  1. Strategic Alignment: Clear alignment with their focus on young people aged 14-25 facing challenge and disadvantage, working on social justice issues
  1. Long-term Impact: Commitment to deep, long-lasting change rather than short-term interventions
  1. Organisational Culture: Positive approach to child protection and safeguarding
  1. Direct Youth Input: Evidence of direct feedback and input from young people in programme design and delivery
  1. Intersectional Approach: Understanding of how different forms of disadvantage intersect
  1. Lived Experience: Prioritisation of young people with lived experience of the issues being addressed

Recent Funded Projects:

  • Readipop (Reading): Unlocking creativity and self-expression through music making for hundreds of young people
  • Team Domenica (Brighton): Supporting young people with learning disabilities to develop employability through real-time work
  • Restart Youth (2021): 26 youth organisations across SE England giving decision-making power to young people
  • The Listening Fund partnership: £575,599 distributed to 25 organisations in 2023

Language and Values:

The Trust emphasizes partnership language - they refer to “partners not grantees” and approach relationships “in a spirit of humility, collaboration and mutual learning.” They value transparency, flexibility, long-term commitment, and challenge the philanthropic status quo.

Standing Out:

  • Demonstrate genuine youth leadership and power-sharing
  • Show understanding of intersectional disadvantage
  • Present clear theory of change for long-term impact
  • Emphasize unrestricted funding needs and why core support matters
  • Highlight existing relationships with young people and their involvement in governance

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Highly selective initial screening (9% success rate) but very high approval once reaching trustees (90%+) - ensure strong strategic alignment before applying
  • Youth voice is paramount - applications must demonstrate genuine youth leadership and decision-making power, not token involvement
  • Unrestricted funding preferred - make the case for core costs and organisational sustainability over restricted project funding
  • Three-year commitment standard - frame proposals for long-term change rather than short-term fixes
  • Relationship-based funding - expect meetings and in-depth conversations; the Trust invests time in getting to know potential partners
  • Geographic specificity matters - for regional funding, must be based in Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, or Wiltshire
  • Be prepared for light-touch reporting - the Trust values learning over bureaucratic monitoring, focusing on what works and what doesn't
  • Align with their values - emphasize partnership, transparency, challenging power imbalances, and centering diverse young voices

Similar Funders

These funders frequently fund the same charities:

  • Paul Hamlyn Foundation
  • Mcs Charitable Foundation
  • The Tds Charitable Foundation
  • Daylight Theatre Foundation
  • Federation Of Iraqi Refugees
  • Kurdish And Middle Eastern Women'S Organisation Limited
  • Sarah Agnes Foundation
  • Sen Family Saturdays
  • Turkish And Kurdish Children'S Group
  • Brewster Maude Charitable Trust

References