Volant Charitable Trust

Summary: The Volant Charitable Trust was set up by the author J K Rowling to support charitable organisations whose purpose is to alleviate poverty and social deprivation with particular emphasis on children’s and women’s issues. It distributes about £5 million per year, mainly in large grants of more than £100,000 to large national charities but some smaller grants are given to local and regional charities.

Funding themes (areas of interest):
The Trustees principal objective is to support charitable organisations whose purpose is to alleviate poverty and social deprivation with particular emphasis on children’s and women’s issues.

The Trust also have an interest in supporting overseas projects that meet their main objective and research into the causes, treatment and possible cures of Multiple Sclerosis. However, the Trust have committed funding to these objectives so they are not considering applications for work under these priorities.

Grant size available: There is no stated minimum or maximum grant size. The annual accounts show that the Trust made 60 grants in 2007-08, distributing £4,472,000; of these grants, 8 were large amounts from £90,000 to over £2 million to large national charities and a disaster emergency appeal. This accounted for £3,440,000 of the grant-making for the year. The remaining 52 grants totalled just over £1 million. These are not listed in the Trust’s accounts, but research into previous grant recipients show several donations of £10,000 to £25,000.

Types of cost funded: Revenue and capital costs can be funded, including equipment, premises, core costs, salaries. The Trustees are prepared to support a charity by way of regular annual payments but only in exceptional circumstances would grants exceed three years.

Types of organisation that can be funded: Registered charities only.

Geographical areas that can be funded: UK. The Trust is based in Scotland and several recipients of smaller grants are Scottish charities, but there is not a stated preference for Scotland.

How to apply: The application form is avilable to download from the Trust website (in Word or pdf format) or is available by contacting the Trust directly.

Deadline: The Trustees meet twice a year, in March and September, to consider applications and allocate funds. If your application is successful, you will be notified immediately after the meeting has taken place. The deadline for the next meeting is Friday 27 February 2009.

Key exclusions (what can’t be funded):
Individuals

Sources of more information:
Volant Charitable Trust website
Register entry on the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator website (although the OSCR doesn’t make copies of annual reports and accounts available through their register, so there isn’t really any additional information to be gained here).

Contact details:
Christine Collingwood
The Volant Charitable Trust
Box 8
196 Rose Street
Edinburgh EH2 4AT

No telephone number is given for enquiries. The Trust say they cannot enter into any communication regarding general enquiries. Any specific questions can be asked using the contact form on the Trust website.