Pothecary Witham Weld Solicitors

The Mrs Smith & Mount Trust

Funding organisations in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey and London under the following priority areas:-

1) Mental Health
2) Learning disabilities
3) Homelessness
4) Family support within the areas of 1, 2 and 3 above
5) Health in the Community

Guidelines for Applicants

Aims

The Mrs Smith & Mount Trust aims to assist disadvantaged people towards greater independence or a better quality of life.

Who can apply?

Registered charities whose beneficiaries are in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey and London.

Our priorities

The Fund currently has the following priority areas:

1. Mental Health
2. Learning Disability
3. Homelessness
4. Family Support, within the areas of mental health and learning disability and homelessness. (Applications for general family support will not be considered.)
5. Health in the Community.  This category is for registered charities with an annual income of less than £500,000, working to improve health in the community.  This could include groups working in areas such as food poverty, childhood obesity, specific health conditions and hospices.  The Trustees do not consider appeals for equipment under this category.

What type of grants do we give?

• The majority of our grants are for projects, but we also sometimes fund general running cost for a charity, particularly if we have supported that charity in the past.
   
• The Trustees will not normally consider building costs, only refurbishment or alterations necessary to bring a building up to standards to meet legislative requirements.

Exclusions

• The Trustees will only consider national organisation’s appeals, at branch level.
   
• The Trustees do not fund individuals.
   
• The Trustees do not consider applications from charities with an income of over £1M and/or free unrestricted reserves to the value of more than six months of the applicant organisations annual expenditure.

Re-applying to the Mrs Smith & Mount Trust

Unsuccessful applicants can re-apply after two years.
Successful applicants will not be considered for a period of two years following receipt of a grant (or final payment of repeat funding).

How much do we give?

In the financial year ending 31 January 2011 the Trustees of the Mrs Smith & Mount Trust authorised grants of £200,477 for 45 organisations. The average size of grant was £4,500. Some of these grants were repeated in subsequent years.

When to apply?

The Trustees meet three times per year in March, July and November and application forms and supporting documentation must reach our offices by the end of January, May and September respectively.

How to apply?

We prefer all applicants to submit their application online. The next scheduled Meeting of the Trustees is due to take place in March 2012.

Applicants may download the application questions and prepare their answers in advance.  You will be able to begin your application and then save and return to it later if required.

Click here to access a copy of the Application Questions

UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO THE NUMBER OF APPEALS ALREADY RECEIVED THE TRUSTEES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING ANY FURTHER APPLICATIONS FOR THEIR MEETING DUE TO TAKE PLACE IN MARCH 2012. THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE IN JULY 2012 AND THE LINK TO THE APPLICATION FORM FOR THIS MEETING WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER IN THE YEAR.

If you have any problems please e-mail the Trust Administrator

What to include with your application?

A copy of your most recent signed accounts, a budget for the project for the current financial year and, if you applying for a salary a job description.

We do not accept draft accounts. Please do not send any other information as it will be discarded.

Grant offers

Successful organisations will be sent a letter confirming the grant offer and any conditions. The grant acceptance letter must be signed by a senior staff member within your organisation, preferably your Director / Chief Executive or Assistant Director.

Reporting on the Grant

Grantholders will be sent a short monitoring form to be completed and returned to the Trust at the end of the project. This form will be sent to you just before your project is due to end. A copy of this form is available on request. Further applications from your organisation will not be considered until this form has been submitted.