THE MURRAY FUND (THE PRIMARY CLUB)
Grants averaging £4,000 are available to ‘grassroots’ UK charitable organisations providing recreational and sporting activities for people who are blind or visually impaired. The Charity prefers to fund running costs or the purchase of equipment.
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o Application deadline: SUNDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2025.
o Funder: The Primary Club (founded 1955. Charity number 285285. Total charitable expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2024: £337,647).
o Who can apply: Ideally, UK grassroots organisations providing sporting and recreational activities for those who are blind or visually impaired.
o Key words: Blind, Visual Impairment, Sporting and Recreational Activities, Equipment, Running Costs, United Kingdom.
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The Primary Club provides financial support for a wide range of recreational and sporting facilities for the blind and visually impaired. It is the major supporter of the thriving network of VI cricket clubs in the UK. However, while its origins and heart are in cricket, the Club also supports a wide range of other VI sports including baseball, futsal, goalball, golf, scuba diving, showdown, skiing, swimming, tandem cycling and Braille chess.
In 2023/4, the Club made grants totalling £197,393 to 44 clubs and organisations. The average grant was just over £4,000. Following a significant legacy in 2023 from the late Kenneth G James (‘The James Fund’), the Trustees also distributed larger grants totalling £139,000 to eleven organisations which were able to demonstrate a level of innovation or collaboration in their proposals.
Details of all grant recipients are provided on pages 12 and 13 of the Charity’s annual accounts.
Project proposals must meet the following criteria:
o All projects must relate clearly to the sporting and/or recreational needs of the blind and partially sighted.
o The Trustees generally prefer to support ‘grass roots’ and ‘start up’ activities rather than, for example, international teams of visually impaired sportsmen and women.
o The Trustees generally prefer to fund the whole of the cost of a project, even where this is spread across two or more years, rather than to be one of a number of contributors, and
o The Trustees generally prefer to support running costs or the purchase of equipment, as distinct from items which will significantly increase the recipient’s long-term asset base.
Additionally, for the Murray Fund, the trustees are keen to support projects that are either innovative (in the sense of enabling support to be provided in new ways, or to a wider community) and/or collaborative (for example enabling schools and other organisations to deliver support together which they could not achieve alone).
Applications should be made using the application form available on the Primary Club’s website. Applications should include:
o A detailed statement of how the project will meet the Trustees’ criteria.
o The number of blind and VI people expected to benefit from the project.
o A detailed budget and cash flow forecast showing what additional finance, if any, will be required; how it will be obtained; and how the project will be sustainable in future years.
o In the case of collaborative applications, the names of the lead partner and any additional participants, and
o Proposed project ‘milestones’, with dates, to enable the Trustees to monitor progress.
The last date for applications to the Murray Fund is Sunday 30th November 2025 with applicants expected to be informed of the Trustees’ decision in January 2026.
Further information, guidance and an application form is available on the Charity’s website.
Contact details for the Fund are:
Nicole Pollock
Honorary Secretary
The Primary Club
PO Box 12121
Saffron Walden
Essex
CB10 2ZF
Email: honsec@primaryclub.org