Trust for London
Organisations addressing poverty and inequality in the capital unite to simplify grant applications
London charitable trusts the City Parochial Foundation and Trust for London have merged in an effort to become more flexible and end confusion for grant applicants.
The charity will now be known as Trust for London. It will continue to award about 150 grants a year from its £6m budget to voluntary and community groups in the capital.
"The new Trust for London will distribute just as much funding as the two former organisations combined," said Bharat Mehta, chief executive of Trust for London.
The average grant the trust makes is £54,000, although in some cases they have been as much as £100,000. The amounts are usually spread over one, two or three years, and occasionally longer periods.
The trust has been known for funding less popular causes. It was among the first funders of the Terrence Higgins Trust in the 1980s and it recently established organisations that support London’s refugee communities.
There will be no redundancies at the charity and the trust will continue to tackle poverty and inequality in London.
Mehta said that the same funding priorities will remain. "Trust for London will continue to focus on the most marginalised, through our grants programme, special initiatives such as the Living Wage campaign and innovative research such as London’s Poverty Profile," he said.
Those who currently have grants from the charity will not be affected by the merger, and the conditions of the grant and main contact person will remain the same.
The trusts, which have always shared an office, will stay at the same address.The next closing date for grant applications is 5 October.
