The Garfield Weston Foundation was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston, a Canadian businessman who moved to the UK with his family in 1932. Annual donations to the Foundation have grown from £1m a year to nearly £30m a year over the past 25 years. The Foundation is reported to have an endowment of at least $6.5 billion.
The Foundation states that it spends all of the income it receives has donated more than £680 million over its lifetime. The Foundation aims to be responsive to where need is greatest, supporting a wide range of charitable activity rather than having specific priorities for funding. The Foundation currently only support organisations and projects based in the United Kingdom. Rather than predetermining where funds should be given, the Foundation prefers to respond on a flexible basis to organisations that can show that they are addressing a need and that their work is high quality.
The Foundation aims to keep the process of applying for grants uncomplicated with just a one-stage application under two streams of activity. Major Grants of £100,000 and above; and Regular Grant ranging from £1,000 to £99,999. On average, approximately 1,500 charities across the UK benefit each year from grants made by the Foundation ranging from the smallest community and volunteer projects through to large national organisations. Despite the diversity of organisations and projects the Foundation funds, the common themes are charities that demonstrate quality and excellence with projects that have clear outcomes and benefits, good leadership and sensible business plans.
The Foundation accepts applications at any time, therefore there are no formal deadlines for submitting applications and organisations should allow approximately four months for a final outcome. Applicants will receive an acknowledgment letter within four weeks of sending in your application. We ask that applications are sent to us as hard copies only through the post.
The Foundations seeks out organisation and projects that are: Financially viable; Have an urgent need for funding; manage administration and fundraising costs in proportion to charitable activities well; able to raise sufficient funding from other sources; and have appropriate priorities and plans to manage their activities.
A written proposal can be sent to the Foundation at any time. Initial letters should be limited to two pages and include the need being addressed; how many people will benefit; how and when the project will be delivered; how much it will cost; and the impact of the project.
More information can be found at this link.
