OUR FUNDING POLICY

The Wharfedale Foundation is a charitable trust that has its roots in the Christian tradition.  We recognise a common practical vision of a better world with those of other faith traditions and none.  We fund organisations and initiatives in Yorkshire and the Humber that bring communities together, support communities who feel marginalised and forgotten, or build bridges between communities.  We fund organisations with an annual income that is at or below £300,000 by giving grants from £500 and up to £25,000.

Our funding priorities are:

  • Breaking down barriers
  • Integrating marginalised groups
  • Tackling disadvantage

What we fund

Grants for not-for-profit organisations with income under £300,000 for projects in Yorkshire & Humber addressing divisions in society and bringing communities closer together.

Grants will be for up to £10,000 over 1 or 2 years for organisations with an annual income of under £150,000. Grants will be for up to £25,000 for organisations with an annual income of under £300,000.  We encourage applications particularly from smaller organisations.

We will fund projects/activities/core and development costs (including staff salaries, training, pilot projects, on-going services etc.) and are particularly keen to support organisations to be more sustainable.

Who can apply

We are open to applications from:

  • Registered charities
  • Charitable companies
  • Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO)
  • Community Interest Companies (CIC).  CIC’s must be limited by guarantee with at least 3 unrelated directors, no persons with significant control, and have an asset lock.
  • Voluntary/community/faith organisations (with a constitution)
  • Other non-profit organisations will be considered

The essentials you need:

  1. To be set up as an organisation with a governing document, e.g. a constitution or articles and memorandum and to be not-for-profit. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has advice on writing a governance document here.
  2. To have a bank account (though in some rare cases we will instead allow you to use a 3rd party to hold your funds instead).
  3. A set of financial accounts. Or alternatively, bank statements for the previous three months will be acceptable for new organisations without a full year’s accounts yet.
  4. Names of all your trustees or management committee members or directors.
  5. If you work with children or vulnerable adults we will need evidence of your safeguarding policies and procedures.

If you need further advice about these basics, contact one of the advisers listed at the bottom of this page.

What we won’t normally fund

  • capital projects (eg buildings and land)
  • general appeals
  • applications from individuals
  • heritage projects
  • any application that is not based in Yorkshire or the Humber
  • organisations with an annual income above £300,000

HOW TO GET STARTED

Before you start, please make sure your organisation has in place all the essentials listed on the left and that you can answer YES to these three questions:

  1. Are you operating in Yorkshire and/or Humber?
  2. Is your annual income below £300,000?
  3. Will your application meet at least one of our funding priorities?

Then, if you can say YES to all the above questions, please fill in the registration of interest form which you will find here.

If your application fits our priorities for funding, we will invite you to complete a full application form which will be emailed to you.  

When can you apply:

Applications will be considered over 2024-2025 over 4 rounds

1) Round 1 will open 1 – 22 March 2024 for expressions of interest, with full applications invited to submit between 1 – 26 April 2024.

2) Round 2 opens on 6 – 27 September 2024 for expressions of interest, with full applications invited to submit between 7 October and 1 November 2024.

There will be 2 further rounds in 2025.

Further information  

The Foundation will also be running short Meet the Funder on-line information sessions where you can find out more.  These will be:

  • Thursday 22nd February at 2pm register here
  • Wednesday 6th March at 6pm register here
  • We will also be delivering a session in partnership with Community Matters Yorkshire on Monday 18th March register here


FURTHER ADVICE AND SUPPORT FOR YOUR ORGANISATION

You may be able to get free advice from one of these funding advisers to support your organisation in your local area

Bradford
Calderdale
Doncaster
East Riding
Leeds
Hambleton
Harrogate
Hull
Kirklees
North Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire
North Yorkshire
Rotherham
Sheffield
South Yorkshire Funding Advice Bureau
Wakefield
York