The John Spedan Lewis Foundation (JSLF) accepts appeals from UK registered charities for which natural history topics are explicitly stated among their charitable purposes, including wildlife conservation, entomology and ornithology. The Foundation also sponsors a doctoral studentship every three to four years.
Awards reflect the interests of the Foundation’s settlor, John Spedan Lweis, particularly:
o Conservation.
o Entomology (the branch of zoology concerned with the study of insects).
o Environmental education.
o Horticulture, and
o Ornithology (the scientific study of birds).
Funding is usually divided annually between a number of small and medium sized projects.
Grant awards during the year ended 31 March 2022 totalled just £25,000 to 1 organisation, compared to £121,000 to 11 organisations the previous year. The majority of donations are made on a one-off basis.
The JSLF also acted as a champion for 6 UK nature charities:
o Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation, to support biodiversity enhancement in urban parks
o Habitats and Heritage, to support community engagement activities for habitat creation in green corridors in southwest London.
o Moor Trees, to support tree planting in Devon.
o Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, to support wildflower meadow creation.
o The Cotswolds Lake Trust, to support volunteers with tree planting, and
o The Parks Foundation, to support pollinator friendly planting in public parks.
The typical grant making process is as follows:
1. Applications for funding are sought from charitable organisations.
2. These are reviewed in the first instance by the Secretary against specific criteria and objectives determined by the Trustees.
3. Applications meeting these criteria are then considered by the Trustees at the two meetings held each year. The requests are scrutinised as far as possible on the basis of their viability and value, and their alignment to the interests, ideals and principles of John Spedan Lewis.
There doesn’t appear to be an application form or process on the Foundation’s website. If you’re interested in exploring the possibility of grant support, we suggest you write to the Foundation’s secretary, Dr Ruth Bone, at the following address:
Dr Ruth Bone
The John Spedan Lewis Foundation
171 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 5NN
Email: jslf(at)johnlewis.co.uk
