The Elise Pilkington Charitable Trust
Capital grants, generally for between £2,500 and £15,000, are available to UK registered charities working in the equine sector.
The aims of the Elsie Pilkington Charitable Trust are:
- To prevent cruelty to equine animals, to relieve suffering and distress amongst such equine animals, to care for and protect such equine animals, including live horses being transported country to country for butchery if such animals are in need of care and protection by reason of sickness, maltreatment, poor circumstances or other similar causes.
- To promote the relief of the elderly, and
- To further such other exclusively charitable purposes according to the law of England and Wales as the Trustees in their absolute discretion from time to time determine.
Although this can vary from year to year, the Trust normally makes two-thirds of its awards to equine charities and one-third to charities and/or hospices working with the elderly. Equine grants are normally only considered from charities that are members of the National Equine Welfare Council (NEWC) or charities that are proactively working towards becoming members of NEWC.
Please note that only the Trust's Equine Grants programme is currently open to applications. The Trust's grants for older people is presently closed.
Grants are generally for capital projects and usually between £2,500 and £15,000, with the occasional higher award.
Further information, guidance and an application form is available on the Trust’s website.
The Trust operates two application deadlines each year, in February and August/September.
The next application deadline - for equine projects only - is on Friday 28 August 2026.