How to apply
Before applying please read the information about Eligibility and Grant Programmes carefully. The answers to most of the queries raised by applicants can be found there or on our FAQs page. Do check that your charity and your particular project meet our grants criteria before you apply to us; we don’t want you to waste your time applying if you are ineligible.
Application Timescales
Our Trustees meet quarterly to consider grant applications. The application deadlines for our meetings are listed below. We aim to notify you of the outcome of your application within four months of the application deadline.
Trustees' meeting |
Application deadline |
Spring |
1st January |
Summer |
1st April |
Autumn |
1st July |
Winter |
1st October |
Application Process
The Peter Harrison Foundation operates a two-stage application process for major grant applications (£5,000 - £30,000), and a one-stage application process for small grant applications (up to £5,000).
Stage 1
If your organisation is eligible to apply and you feel your project fits one of the two grant programmes that are open to applications (Opportunities Through Sport OR Support for Children and Young People with special educational needs and disabilities), you will need to complete a Stage 1 application form. All applications must be submitted using our online application form, which can be accessed by clicking the 'Apply Now' button below.
You can see the questions on the Stage 1 application form by clicking this link: Stage 1 Application Questions
Once you have submitted your form we will send you an email confirming receipt.
Foundation staff review all Stage 1 applications. We may contact you to arrange a telephone discussion / virtual meeting to learn more about the need for your project and its likely impact. After we complete our initial assessment, we may invite you to submit a Stage 2 application. Because we are so heavily oversubscribed, we are only able to invite a small number of charities to submit a Stage 2 application.
If your Stage 1 application is not successful, we will notify you by email.
PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately, the Foundation receives many more requests for funding than we are able to support and we regret that we have to turn down many good proposals, even though they may meet our criteria.
Stage 2
If we invite you to submit a Stage 2 application, we will send you a link to the application form by email. We may also arrange a visit or a virtual meeting to see your organisation’s work in action.
You can see the questions on the Stage 2 application form by clicking this link: Stage 2 Application Questions
We will prepare assessments of all Stage 2 applications for review by the Trustees. All funding decisions are made by the Trustees.
- If your Stage 2 application is successful
If your application is successful, we will notify you by email and then send a Grant Offer Letter by post.
In the letter we will explain the conditions which apply to all grant awards and also set out any special conditions which apply to your charity. We will also explain how and when your charity will receive its grant, and how payment is made.
- If your Stage 2 application is unsuccessful
We will contact you via email to let you know if your application is not successful. The main reason for not funding projects is that we receive many more applications than we can support, and we inevitably have to disappoint many of the charities that apply to us.
How we monitor grants awarded
We require charities supported by the Foundation to show how they have used the grant and, depending on the grant amount and the nature of the project, may be asked to undertake a review and evaluation of the project being funded. This will normally be on completion of the project, but for charities receiving their grant in several instalments we usually ask for interim progress reports.
We provide full details of the monitoring information required in the Foundation's grant offer letter.
Equal opportunities
The Peter Harrison Foundation aims to ensure that all grant applications that are eligible for consideration within the Foundation's grants criteria are given equal consideration, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, or disability.
Data protection
Personal information provided by individuals and organisations applying for grants will be held and used in strict accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (2018). The Foundation is required to seek consent to hold and use personal data provided by grant applicants for the purpose of processing and assessing grant applications. This may include the transfer of data to third parties for the same purpose. The Foundation requires your further assurance that personal data about any other individual or individuals associated with a grant application is provided to the Foundation with his/her/their consent. Please understand that submitting an online Stage 1 Application to the Foundation confirms this consent and assurance. To read the Foundation’s Privacy and Data Protection Policy in full please click here.