The Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust provides grants of between £2,000 and £10,000, with no specific requirement for matched funding, for revenue projects as well as occasional grants of up to £35,000 (as a matched funding contribution towards capital projects) for UK registered charities working in the UK and/or overseas whose activities include one or more of the following:
o To conserve wild life.
o To encourage the understanding of animals, and
o To relieve animals from suffering.
The Trust favours small-medium sized charities (charities that aren’t registered and have an annual income of under £5,000 are also eligible to apply) that meet the following criteria:
o Are able to demonstrate an active re-homing and rehabilitation policy for animals taken into their care.
o Involved with conservation of wildlife, when the rescue, rehabilitation and (where appropriate and possible) the release of animals.
o Registered with the Charity Commission unless their annual income is under £5,000, with independently examined and up-to-date annual accounts, and
o Smaller animal welfare charities registered in the UK and working in the UK or abroad.
During the year ended 31st December 2022, the Trust made donations totalling £605,173 (2021: £441,200; 2020: £395,000) to UK registered animal welfare chanties working in the UK and overseas involved with the care of dogs, cats, rabbits, equines and numerous wildlife ranging from hedgehogs to elephants. £210,992 of this was made in memory of Joyce Evelyn Shuman to UK chanties working overseas.
Funding is not available for:
o Charities offering sanctuary to animals, with no effort to re-home, foster or rehabilitate, unless endangered species.
o Charities registered outside of the United Kingdom.
o Charities that do not have a realistic destruction policy for animals that cannot be given a reasonable quality of life, be that medical or behavioural.
o Charities that spend more than a reasonable proportion of their annual income on administration or cannot justify their costs per animal helped.
o Charities which import dogs or other animals from overseas, unless they fulfil the additional listed criteria.
o Charities with available reserves equal to more than one year's expenditure, unless it can be demonstrated that reserves are being held for a designated project.
o Individuals.
o Loan applications.
o Overseas charities for funds for capital expenditure, or
o Veterinary schools, unless the money can be seen to be directly benefiting the type of animals the Trust would want to support, eg welfare-related or low-cost and first-opinion vet-treatment projects.
Further information, guidance and an application form is available on the Trust’s website.
The next deadline for applications is Wednesday 1st May 2024 for consideration at the Trust’s Summer 2024 meeting.