Merchant Taylors' Foundation Funding Application

Apply for a Grant from Merchant Taylors' Foundation

Tailoring Brighter Futures

Our proactive funding establishes long-lasting funding relationships with groups that are well-placed to make a significant impact in Southwark or Lewisham. It is not possible to apply for funding for this stream. For details of our current Proactive relationships, see the MTF Review.

Our Small Grants Scheme is for community-based charities operating exclusively in the London boroughs of Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets.

Any charity applying to the Small Grants Scheme needs to work with people who are in need due to age, ill health, disability, financial hardship, or some other form of disadvantage. For case studies of charities which received Small Grants last year, see our Case Studies. For details of all charities which received Grants last year, see the MTF Review. Please do not apply if you do not meet our detailed eligibility criteria (available here).

The Small Grants Scheme Application window is now closed! The Next window will open in Autumn 2025.

Merchant Taylors’ Foundation Small Grants Scheme Checklist

Please complete the gateway checklist below and read our detailed eligibility criteria to see if you are able to apply to the Small Grants Scheme. If you do not meet the detailed criteria, please do not apply. If you have any difficulties with the below form, please contact charities@merchant-taylors.co.uk.

My organisation is a UK registered charity
My organisation is supporting 'people who are in need due to age, ill health, disability, financial hardship, or some other form of disadvantage'
My organisation operates exclusively in one or more of the MTF’s four boroughs (Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets)
My organisation is not a National or International Charity
My organisation has received funding from the MTF Small Grants Scheme within the last 2 years

Please do not apply if your organisation does not meet our detailed eligibility criteria. We have to reject any applications not complying with the previously linked eligibility criteria. For case studies of charities which received Small Grants last year, see our Case Studies.

Merchant Taylors in Need

The Foundation also provides limited financial help in appropriate cases to:

'Poor Freemen of the Merchant Taylors' Company'
'Poor dependants or poor apprentices of Freemen of the Merchant Taylors' Company'

We only have capacity to provide help on a modest financial scale, for example the cost of replacing broken white goods in an emergency for someone who meets the above criteria and is unable to pay for the items due to financial hardship.

Unfortunately we don’t have the financial or staffing resources to provide one-off financial help on a large scale, or to help with longer term or potentially open-ended financial commitments such as:

Paying school fees to enable a child to continue in their current school
Subsidising the cost of private sector rental accommodation.

Our staff team is small so unfortunately we aren’t able to provide staff help in kind, for example to find new accommodation or to arrange a nursing home place or a care package.

Please contact us here, with a brief explanation of your circumstances including your connection to Merchant Taylors’ Company.