Postcode Society Trust
Please see below our funding guide in text form. You can use the UserWay accessibility widget to make adjustments to the text to suit your needs.
Funding Rounds
We support organisations in the South of England with unrestricted funding.
- Round 1: 23rd February 9am - 1st March 12 noon
- Round 2: 27th May 9am - 3rd June 12 noon
- Round 3: 26th August 9am - 2nd September 12 noon
Overview
- Funding is available for organisations that have been operating for over a year and have a set of signed accounts at the time of application.
- The funding offered is unrestricted and therefore flexible. It can be used however it is most needed.
- This Trust awards funds to organisations in the South of England that meet one of our funding themes.
- Please enter your organisatin's postcode into our Trust Finder to ensure this is the correct Trust for your location.
- A copy of the questions that will be included in the application form can be downloaded from the Trust website. Please note that all character counts include spaces and punctuation.
- Organisations may only make one application per funding round and are not eligible to apply to other Trusts supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. If you are unsuccessful, we will welcome one further application in 2024.
Funding Themes
- Enabling participation in physical activity
- Enabling participation in the arts
- Preventing or reducing the impact of poverty
- Supporting marginalised groups and tackling inequality
- Improving biodiversity and responding to the climate emergency
- Improving green spaces and increasing access to the outdoors
- Providing support to improve mental health
Funding Timeline
Week 1: Application submission deadline
Week 2: Eligibility screening and assessment begins
Week 3: Consideration by Trustees
Week 4: Decisions finalised and shared by email at the end of the week
Week 5: Funding agreements returned to the Trust
Week 6: Funding agreements checked
Week 7: Payments prepared
Week 8: Grants paid to successful organisations by the end of this week
Funding Priorities
Funding rounds are always oversubscribed, meaning it is not always possible to fund all strong applications. To support decision making, priority will be given to charities and good causes which meet some or all of the following criteria:
- Funding organisations with an annual income of £250,000 and below
- Funding for communities that rank as being within the top 15% on the English Index of Multiple Deprivation
- Funding for groups that are specifically set up to support people from the following minority/marginalised groups
- Communities experiencing racial inequity
- Disabled people
- LGBT+ people
How much can your organisation apply for?
Organisations that can apply for up to £2,500
| Type of not-for-profit | Further information |
| Constituted voluntary organisations with no charity number | Is formally constituted (excludes informal groups, households, families, and friends) This includes community amateur sports clubs |
| Excepted and exempted charities | Excepted and exempted charities may have charitable status and are required to comply with charity law, but are not registered with the Charity Commission |
| Companies limited by guarantee with an asset lock | An asset lock is a legal clause in your governing documents that ensures your organisation’s assets can only be used for its community or charitable purpose, i.e. will not be able to distribute funds as dividends |
| Parochial Church Councils |
This includes Parochial Church Councils that are Exempted or have full Charity Commission registration |
Organisations that can apply for up to £25,000
| Type of not-for profit | Further information |
| Community Interest Companies (CIC's) with an asset lock (Schedule 1 and 2 only) | CIC schedule 1: ltd by guarantee CIC schedule 2: ltd by shares but is only permitted to pay dividends to specified asset locked bodies. Please note we do not award funds to: CIC schedule 3: ltd by shares but do have the ability to pay dividends to shareholders who are not asset-locked bodies If the objects section in the governing document is blank/not clear, we will require the CIC36 ‘Community Interest Statement’ form to assess the application |
| Community Benefit Society | A society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, owned by the members. The society is established for the benefit of the community and not its members |
| Charities registered with the Charity Commission or OSCR | Not including Excepted or Exempted charities or Parochial Church Councils |
Criteria Checklist
- The amount requested should not exceed 1/3 (one third) of your total income on the annual accounts submitted with your application
- An income of £1m or less in the most recent financial year (organisations with an income of less than £250k are prioritised)
- A governing document (signed by Trustees/Directors/Committee members) in the name of your organisation with clear charitable objectives
- No more than 50% of Trustees/Directors/Committee members can be related
- A UK bank account in the name of your organisation with two unrelated signatories
- Signed accounts, no older than year ending May 2022, with income and expenditure for the most recent financial year. These should also include an Independent Examiner’s or Auditor’s report if required by your regulator
- The name of your organisation should be identical on your governing document, bank account, annual accounts, and submitted application. Any name changes need to be formally documented and submitted to the Trust at time of application
- Postcode Society Trust is a real Living Wage funder and fair pay is an important aspect of our EDI commitments. We encourage all organisations to pay the real Living Wage or above
- This type of funding can be used for anything within an organisation’s charitable objects apart from what is listed in the ‘We do not fund’ list
- The organisation’s aims/objects must have a clear alignment to at least one of the funding themes as per page 2. If there is no clear alignment the application will be considered ineligible
- Successful organisations should aim to have all funds spent within 18 months of receipt
We do not fund:
Organisation
| Local, regional or government institutions and organisations with core statutory responsibilities (e.g. NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS Charities, parish councils, town councils and public bodies) |
| Political parties or party-political activities |
| Individuals |
| Organisations that have been operating for less than 1 year old and/or do not have signed accounts |
| Schools, Academies, Nurseries and Preschools (please see Learning Through Landscapes) |
| Parent Teacher Associations, Friends of Parent Teacher Associations, and Universities/Colleges |
| Organisations with solely religious objects in their governing document |
| Organisations outside of Great Britain |
| Organisations with an annual income in excess of £1,000,000 |
| Organisations supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery through any People’s Postcode Lottery Trust within the last 12 months (this is counted from the date payment was received into your organisation’s account) |
| Previous grant holders who have not submitted the end of grant review form |
| Schedule 3 Community Interest Companies |
| Organisations that have previously breached their Funding Agreement with Postcode Society Trust |
| Organisations supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery through other Trusts |
Activities
| Medical research, clinical treatment, medical staff in a clinical setting where the diagnosis, and/or prescribing of clinical advice or medication is taking place and medical equipment |
| Activities taking place outside of Great Britain or foreign travel |
| The promotion or practice of religion |
| Animal welfare, however we will consider applications involving animals that focus on the human element e.g. therapy animals |
| Distribution of grants/funds to individuals or other organisations. This would include but not be limited to bursaries, per diems, and honorarium payments |
| Funding being allocated to the organisation’s reserves |
| Retrospective requests for activities that have already occurred or costs that have previously been incurred |