Small Grants up to £10,000 and Large Grants up to £50,000 are available to UK registered charities with an annual income of under £500,000 that are working to strengthen the most disadvantaged and marginalised communities in the UK and provide support for families. Grants are available for core costs, salaries, running and project costs.
The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation changed its name to the Forte Charitable Foundation in 2025. The change in title is designed to honour the legacy of its founder, Lord Charles Forte, as it prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027. The new name pays tribute to Lord Forte, who built Trusthouse Forte plc into one of the UK’s leading hospitality businesses, and whose vision and values continue to shape its charitable work today. While the Foundation’s name is changing, its mission and commitment to supporting communities across the UK will remain the same.
The Foundation’s mission is to help address disadvantage and deprivation in communities across the UK. Its core values are to be:
Focussed: the Foundation's focus is on supporting organisations working with the most disadvantaged groups in the UK.
Evidence-based: the Foundation endeavours to identify underfunded areas of particular need and makes its grant decisions based on the evidence of this need and the effectiveness of the work.
Supportive: the Foundation aims to be helpful and supportive in all its relationships with its applicants and grant-holders, which includes making its application and reporting requirements as straightforward as possible.
Independent: the Foundation retains its independence from all political parties, and
Effective: the Foundation strives continually to improve its effectiveness by learning from its work and keeps its processes under review in order to ensure its resources are used to best advantage to achieve the greatest impact.
The Foundation seeks to:
- Strengthen disadvantaged local communities across the UK.
- Provide assistance to and opportunity for disadvantaged individuals and families.
- Support small charities with an annual income of under £500,000.
- Carry out effective governance of the charity.
- Maximise its grant making while retaining the real value of our endowment in an ethical way, and
- Use the resources of the charity efficiently.
The Foundation’s preference is to support frontline organisations working directly with people in need. It is unlikely to support campaigning, organisational development or capacity building. However, it will consider new work which is a logical extension of existing work, but will not support work which represents a significant shift away from an applicant's existing core aims and experience.
The Foundation strongly advises applicants to check the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) rank of their organisation’s postcode as you they need this information to know whether they are eligible. Please refer to the Foundation’s FAQs for directions on how to do this.
Grants are available for:
- Small UK-based small local organisations with a demonstrable track record of success working to address local issues in communities of extreme urban deprivation and deprived rural districts, and
- Revenue costs including core costs, salaries, running and project costs.
The Foundation offers Small and Large Grants to registered charities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will not fund Community Interest Companies (CICs).
Small Grants – these are single year grants between £2,000 and £10,000 for core costs, salaries, running and project costs. Projects must have a focus on community support.
Major Grants – these are single year grants between £10,000 and £50,000 for core costs, salaries, running and project costs or multi-year grants for a maximum of 3 years, not to exceed £100,000 in total over this period, for core costs, salaries, running or project costs. Please note that no more than £50k can be applied for in any given year. Organisations and projects should have a focus on Family Support.
The Foundation gives the following examples of the type of project it can support:
- Community Centres - Salary or running costs for community centres or village halls which offer a range of activities for all ages.
- Early intervention family support.
- Alternative Education - support schemes for young people struggling in mainstream education; homework clubs; supplementary education classes for vulnerable individuals.
- Families coping with addiction.
- Counselling - counselling for any age in areas where statutory services are unable to cope with demand.
- Prisoners' families.
- Young People - Youth Clubs and detached youth work; after school and holiday clubs; opportunities for young people not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs).
- Addictions - addiction and recovery support projects, and
- Homeless Support Services.
Please refer to ‘Who and What We Fund’ on the Foundation’s website for a list of exclusions.
The Foundation operates an on-line application process. Applications may be made at any time of the year - there are no deadlines.
Small Grants will usually receive a final decision within 8 weeks of the receipt of application.
Major Grants will be decided at the Foundation’s Grants Committee meetings which take place in January, April, July and October. If you are applying for a Major Grant, please allow 12-15 weeks for the entire two-stage process.
Further information, an eligibility checklist, Frequently Asked Questions and hints and tips on how to prepare a successful application, together with the online application forms are available on the Foundation’s website.