Home » Grants » Grants to Charities

Since 1981 we have donated over £50 million to national charities. Grants are currently given in the categories of medical research, vulnerable people and youth opportunities.

The charities supported by the Grand Charity are chosen because they aim to make a significant difference to people in need, provide maximum impact by benefitting as many people as possible and support issues that individual Freemasons and their families are concerned about and will be glad to help.

Download a full list of Grants made to Charities since 1981

Please note, there are two types of grants available to nationwide charities:

Minor Grants

Core funding grants of between £500 and £5,000 are given to smaller, nationwide charities whose annual income does not exceed about £1 million. Core funding means that an applicant charity does not have to specify a project. A minor grant can be used for the general running or overhead costs of the charity.

Major Grants

Grants of over £5,000 are made only for a specific purpose and are generally made to larger, nationwide charities.

The average major grant size is normally between £10,000 and £25,000 although grants in the medical research category are likely to be larger
A very few major grants of over £50,000 may be approved each year
The purpose might be to fund a salary or to deliver a specific project
Grants may be made for capital projects provided that the application is for an identifiable element of the project
Funding may be granted for up to three-year periods in certain circumstances where there is evidence of an on-going need for charitable grant funding.

Who is eligible for a grant?

Grants are made only to charities
Charities must be registered with the Charity Commission
Charities must operate nationally, that is, the beneficiaries must come from across England and/or Wales and the charity's work must be nationwide.

If your organisation is eligible for a grant please check the categories to the right

Who is not eligible?

Individuals (unless acceptable under MRG guidelines)
Charities that serve an individual region or city, for example, a regional hospital, a local church, a day centre or a primary school
Organisations not registered with the Charity Commission (other than some exempt charities)
Organisations or projects outside England and Wales
Charities that are deemed to hold funds in excess of their requirements
Charities that are carrying out activities that are primarily the responsibility of central or local government
Animal welfare, the arts or the environment
Charities with sectarian or political objectives.

Regional Charities

Regional or local charities should apply instead to the Provincial Grand Lodge of the region in which they operate. Details of the Provincial Offices can be found on http://www.ugle.org.uk/ under the side-heading "About UGLE" and then under "Provinces" or they are listed in telephone directories, usually under "Freemasons" or "Masons". Please do not use the grant application forms on this website to make requests to Provincial Grand Lodges.

Acknowledgment

All charities should, wherever possible, acknowledge publicly that the grant has been made by The Freemasons' Grand Charity.

Major and Minor grant deadlines:

Grant applications are considered at meetings held in January, April and July.

Applications are currently being accepted for consideration at the meeting to be held in April 2012. The closing date for receipt of applications for presentation at this meeting is Friday 24th February 2012. Applications received after the closing date will be held over to the next meeting (July 2012).

Please note, acknowledgement that we have received a grant application will be made by letter. Further information about the process will also be included.