The St James's Trust Settlement

Quick Stats

• Registered Charity Number: 280455
• Annual Giving: £235,000 (FY 2022) / £355,000 (FY 2024)
• Founded: 1980
• Success Rate: Not publicly disclosed
• Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
• Grant Range: Not publicly disclosed
• Geographic Focus: UK-based, operates internationally

Contact Details

Administrative Contact:

• Email: admin@begbiesaccountants.co.uk
• Phone: 020 7628 5801
• Address: c/o Begbies Chartered Accountants, 9 Bonhill Street, London, EC2A 4DJ

Overview

The St James's Trust Settlement is a private charitable trust established by settlement on 10 June 1980. The trust operates as a grant-making organization that supports charitable organizations across multiple sectors. With annual expenditure ranging from £235,000 to £355,000 in recent years, the trust makes grants to organizations working in areas including disability support, children and young people's services, education and training, health advancement, economic and community development, and arts, culture, heritage, and science. The trust is governed by two trustees and operates without public fundraising, drawing from its established capital base. The charity's governing documents allow it to support “any one or more body or bodies of persons or trust or trusts established in any part of the world for any purpose recognised for the time being by English law as being exclusively charitable.”

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The trust does not operate formal grant programs with published guidelines or amounts. All grants are made at the trustees' discretion.

Priority Areas

Based on Charity Commission classifications, the trust supports:

• People with disabilities
• Children and young people
• Education and training
• Economic, community development, and employment
• Advancement of health or saving of lives
• General charitable purposes
• Arts, culture, heritage, and science

What They Don't Fund

No public information is available about specific exclusions.

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Governance and Leadership

Trustees:

• Mrs J Wells
• Ms C Ingram

The trust operates with a small governance structure of two trustees who make all funding decisions. No trustees receive remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. The trust has no employees.

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

This funder does not have a public application process.

The St James's Trust Settlement operates as a private trust where grants are awarded at the discretion of the trustees. There is no public application portal, no published application guidelines, and no application deadlines. The trust does not raise funds from the public and appears to support causes and organizations identified by the trustees through their own networks and knowledge.

Organizations seeking support would need to approach the trustees through the administrative contact at Begbies Chartered Accountants, though there is no indication that unsolicited applications are encouraged or regularly considered.

Decision Timeline

Not publicly disclosed.

Success Rates

Not publicly disclosed. Given the private nature of the trust, it is likely that most grants are made to organizations already known to the trustees rather than through competitive application processes.

Reapplication Policy

Not publicly disclosed.

Application Success Factors

Given the private nature of this trust, there are no publicly available guidelines for what makes a successful application. The trust operates entirely at the discretion of its two trustees, who select beneficiaries based on their own judgment and knowledge.

Note: The charity's reporting to the Charity Commission was overdue by 309 days at the time of recent checks, which may indicate limited administrative resources or priorities focused on grant-making rather than public transparency.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

• Private discretionary trust: This is not a funder with an open application process. Trustees select recipients based on their own discretion.
• Limited transparency: Very little information is publicly available about decision-making criteria, grant amounts, or recipients.
• Small governance structure: With only two trustees, decisions are made by a very small group with likely personal knowledge of supported causes.
• Broad charitable scope: The trust's governing documents allow for very wide charitable purposes, both geographically and thematically.
• Consistent grant-making: Despite modest income, the trust maintains significant annual expenditure, suggesting it draws on capital reserves to support its charitable purposes.
• Administrative contact only: Contact details provided are for the accountants who handle administrative matters, not direct trustee contact.
• No public accountability culture: Late reporting and minimal public information suggest this trust prioritizes private decision-making over public engagement.

Similar Funders

These funders have a similar focus and geographic reach:

• THE EDENBEG CHARITABLE TRUST
• Dorothy, Emma & Spiro Latsis Benevolent Trust
• Help To Create Hope Trust
• The Edgware Foundation
• The Joe and Rosa Frenkel Charitable Trust
• Peter Stormonth Darling Charitable Trust
• The Pendle Foundation
• POEL TZEDEK CHARITABLE TRUST
• FRANKGIVING LIMITED
• The Neon Foundation

References

• Charity Commission Register of Charities, THE ST JAMES'S TRUST SETTLEMENT (Charity Number 280455), accessed 8 December 2025: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=280455&subid=0
• OpenCharities Database, THE ST JAMES'S TRUST SETTLEMENT: http://opencharities.org/charities/280455
• NGO Explorer, The St JAMES's TRUST SETTLEMENT: https://ngoexplorer.org/charity/280455