Welcome to the Mary Homfray Charitable Trust
Funding Great Causes
The Mary Homfray Charitable Trust offers grants of between £1000 and £5000 to a wide range of charitable causes, with a focus on those operating in Wales where Mary lived for most of her life. Priority for support is given to charities that Mary herself is keen on, as well as those that the trustees have a personal connection to. Whilst the Trust likes to offer continued support year on year to selected charities, there are also new ones added each year at the discretion of the trustees.
To date the Trust has had the privilege of supporting over 100 charities with a diverse range. Recurrent themes due to Mary’s own interests and those of the trustees are Alzheimer’s/dementia, homelessness and wildlife conservation.
About the Trust
The Mary Homfray Charitable Trust was founded by Mary herself in 1977, with the granting of an investment portfolio now worth approximately £4 million. The portfolio is managed by Smith & Williamson and aims to grow its capital while providing an income paid out annually in small grants of £1000-£5000 to around 30 charitable causes.
Support is mainly for small and medium sized charities with a focus on those operating in Wales, where Mary lived most of her life. The trustees of the charity are Mary’s daughter, daughter-in-law and two of her grandchildren. Also attending meetings are our investment manager and representatives from the Trust’s accountants.
Application Criteria
Charities must be UK registered, but may operate anywhere in the world. If a charity is in the process of UK registration they may still be eligible by applying via the UK Fund for Charities. Priority is given to charities operating in Wales.
Applications must be fitted on a single page; please keep it simple, if we require further information we will request it from you.
Once your application has been submitted please do not chase us as the Trustees will only consider your application at their annual meeting each Spring.
We prefer smaller charities where the impact of our money will not get lost. We are unable to support large medical research charities, with the exception of Alzheimer’s/dementia.
If your charitable causes has already received support from the trust in previous years, you should reapply annually if you are seeking further support. Please do not expect continued support as many of the grants are one-off donations.
To Apply
To apply please complete this online form below. Applications received during the previous year will be considered around March, with grants paid out around May/June.
You can contact us by email only via apply@maryhomfrayct.org
Please only contact us to:
1. Apply for a grant, using our online template.
2. Acknowledge a grant once it has been received, it would be appreciated if you can also confirm in this acknowledgement how the grant will be spent.
Please do not write letters to us as from 2020 all applications must be made via our website.