The Stationers’ Foundation

Registered charity 1198494 · since 2022stationers.org/education-and-charity/stationers-foundation·United Kingdom·Updated 29 October 2026

Key takeaways

If your work is education or training in the communication and content industries, or support for people who work or have worked in those industries and their dependants, this foundation's remit fits, and its objects allow grants to organisations as well as individuals.
The scale to plan around is the single award: the Post Graduate Bursary Scheme pays up to £9,000 and the Francis Mathew Awards are normally £3,000, but the grant range is not stated.
Do not apply if your beneficiaries are not UK residents seeking education or training, if the people you would help are not in financial need, or if the course falls outside communication and content, such as papermaking, publishing or librarianship.
No application process is published in the annual report, the register entry or its website, so the simplest route is to get in touch through the contact shown and send an outline of the proposed programme, which is what applicants are asked to send for the Financial Assistance Awards and the Francis Mathew Awards.
Timing and how competitive awards are are not stated, so ask about both when you make contact.

Overview

The Stationers’ Foundation is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1198494).

The Stationers’ Foundation was formed by amalgamating the many Stationers charities that had developed over time. It exists to promote and support education in the communication and content industries, and to provide financial assistance and care to people who work or have worked in those industries, and their dependants, in time of need. It describes itself as distributing around £400,000 a year in grants towards education and welfare. Its welfare fund gives annual or one-off grants, and its bursary programme provides financial and mentoring support to students on MA and MSc courses that lead to careers in the content and communications industries.

What they fund

Priority Areas

The Foundation supports education and training in the communication and content industries, especially for people in financial need. It supports children and young people from primary school to postgraduate study and apprenticeships, including through supplementary schools and mentoring. Its welfare fund gives annual or one-off support to people who work or have worked in those industries, and their dependants, when they are in need, hardship or distress. It gives preference in welfare support to Stationers’ and Newspaper Makers’ freemen in need who are at least 60. Its mission also includes support for the Royal Marines, other defence units, and charities of the Lord Mayor and the City of London. Its objects allow grants to individuals and organisations.

Themes

Education and training
Industry welfare
Defence and civic causes

Geographic Focus

United Kingdom.

What they don't fund

Education and training for persons who are not resident in the United Kingdom
Education and training for persons who are not in need of financial assistance
Welfare relief for people who have not been engaged in the content and communications industry and allied trades or in the distributive trades thereof, and who are not dependents of such individuals
Welfare relief for people who are not in conditions of need, hardship or distress
Financial Assistance only: applicants who are not United Kingdom residents; academic courses outside communication and content, including papermaking, packaging, publishing, bookbinding, conservation, librarianship and archiving
Francis Mathew Awards only:
- applicants who are not at the start of their career
- applicants who are not of British nationality
- applicants who are not employed in or intending to make a career in the printing, publishing and paper industries and associated trades
Post Graduate Bursary Scheme only: students who are not on the courses listed

How to apply

No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry or its website. The contact shown is for getting in touch.

Who can apply:

Financial Assistance Awards: Awards are open to United Kingdom residents to develop their potential in one of the above industries, in a way which would not be possible without an award.
Francis Mathew Award: Up to four awards, normally of £3,000 are available annually for applicants at the start of their career and of British nationality, and either employed in or intending to make a career in these industries.
Post Graduate Bursary Scheme: Up to 16 bursaries of up to £9000 are awarded annually to students on the the courses listed below.

What to send:

Financial Assistance Awards: An outline of the proposed programme which the applicant wishes to undertake.
Francis Mathew Award: An outline of the proposed programme.

Where they fund

Where it says it funds

United Kingdom

Similar funders

Funders that often appear alongside The Stationers’ Foundation in recipients' filed accounts.

The Charities Aid FoundationMixed deadlinesGave £1.2bn Army Benevolent FundFixed deadlinesGave £4.5M The Lord Mayor's AppealInvitation onlyGave £785kHome TrustSalesforce

4 years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 December 2022	£145,182	£188,701	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2022
year to 31 December 2023	£455,540	£439,047	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2023
year to 31 December 2024	£302,410	£402,449	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2024
year to 31 December 2025	£290,955	£386,902	—	Accounts for year to 31 December 2025

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.