The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund provides Small Grants and General Grants for projects that assist the care and relief of people affected by a learning disability.
Baily Thomas considers learning disability to cover the conditions generally referred to as severe learning difficulties, together with autism. Funding is available for projects that benefit children or adults. The Charity defines learning disability as:
1. A need for support/help to fulfil ordinary daily activities.
2. Having global intellectual impairment (an intelligence quotient of less than 70), and
3. The learning disability was onset before the age of 18 years.
Grants are available for capital or revenue costs and for both specific projects and general running and core costs. Research projects can also be funded. Normally one-off grants are awarded, but occasionally a new project may be funded over 2-3 years, subject to satisfactory reports of progress.
The following funding is available:
1. Small Grants: from £250 up to £10,000.
2. General Grants: over £10,000.
Matched funding isn’t always essential, but it may be expected in some instances, particularly for larger grant requests.
Examples of the type of project that could be funded through the programme are (please note that this is not an exclusive list):
o Employment schemes, including woodwork, crafts, printing and horticulture.
o Play schemes and play therapy schemes.
o Refurbishment works for residential, respite care and schools, and
o Support for families, including respite schemes.
Funding is not available for:
o Acquired brain injury, unless the resulting learning disabilities occur early in the developmental period (ie birth, infancy or childhood), impacting on brain maturation and development and learning in childhood.
o Advocacy Projects.
o Any activity considered to be a statutory duty.
o Arts and theatre projects.
o Community Interest Companies.
o Conductive Education projects.
o Conference attendance.
o Hospices.
o Individuals.
o Minibuses, except those for residential and/or day care services for the learning disabled.
o Open access publishing costs.
o Physical disabilities, unless accompanied by significant learning disabilities.
o Qualitative studies.
o Research into or care of people with mental illness, dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism nor ADHD, if they do not also have learning disabilities (intellectual disabilities).
o Swimming and hydro-therapy pools.
o University Full Economic Costs, or
o University overheads.
Applications for grants under £10,000 may be made at any time.
Grants over £10,000 have a series of deadlines throughout the year. Meetings of the Trustees are usually held in March, June and November of each year. The deadlines for submitting an appeal for funding over £10,000 are:
o 1st December annually for consideration at the interim meeting in March
o 1st March annually for consideration at the June meeting
o 1st August annually for consideration at the November meeting.
The next application deadline is therefore Tuesday 1st August 2023.
Further information, guidance and an online application form is available on the Charity’s website.
