1. Check that your organisation meets our criteria on the Who We Give To page and review the case studies on the bottom half of the Who We Give To page to get a better idea of the sort of charities we support.

2. We operate a two stage application process to save grant seekers time and energy – our application form is purposely not available on our website. Please firstly email info@sirgeorgemartintrust.org.uk or telephone 01943 605372 and tell our Trust Manager, Carla Marshall a little bit about your organisation, your work, where you are based and your current financial situation.

3. The Trust Manager will ask you a few questions and then she will tell you right away if she thinks the trustees will consider an application from your organisation.

3. If you are a new applicant to the Sir George Martin Trust, the Trust Manager will then organise an in-person visit, Zoom meeting or telephone call and email you our application form which can be completed and returned after the talk with her. She will give you guidance on the deadline for returning the application.

4. If you are a repeat applicant to the Trust, the Trust Manager will either send you the application form right away or she may wish to first visit or have a chat to discuss how things are going at your organisation.

4. The Sir George Martin Trust is a participant of the Yorkshire Common Application Form initiative (YCAF) which aims to make the application process for grant seekers easier and faster by many local funders asking exactly the same questions in the same format on their application form. The other YCAF participants can be reviewed at https://www.yorkshirefunders.org.uk/ycaf/

5. The Sir George Martin Trust currently aims to give grants to around 50% of every enquiry that it receives.

Other useful information:

  • Read the Sir George Martin Trust’s Grant Policy which was agreed at the 15th March 2024 board meeting SGMT Grant Policy March 2024
  • The Trustees generally meet three times a year to discuss grant applications and will next meet on the 4th February and in June and October 2025, but due to the number of enquiries received, we recommend making initial contact with our Trust Manager at least 2-3 months before each meeting.
  • Once an application has been reviewed and the Trust Manager has made her assessment she will put forward her recommendations to the eight trustees who make the final decision.
  • Following each trustees’ meeting, the Trust Manager will aim to inform applicants of the outcome and make the BACS payment within a week of the meeting.
  • Successful applicants are then asked to confirm receipt of the confirmation and payment asap and then complete and return the brief Outcomes Report within 6-12 months.
  • Once a month, every month, the Trust Manager reads the most recent Outcome Reports received from grant holders and emails these for all the trustees to read. The information is used to form the Trust’s annual Impact Report and case studies are featured on the Trust’s website.
  • Future grants/applications may be jeopardised if trustees fail to receive feedback about the success of your work following a donation.
  • The Trust does not normally repeat grants to any charity in any one year, and the maximum number of consecutive grants is usually three. The Trust currently prefers to adopt a one-off policy in terms of its giving.
  • We ask that repeat applicants wait 12 months from receiving a grant before applying again.
  • Unsuccessful enquiries and applicants are generally informed by email.
  • To review our Privacy Policy please click here SGMT Privacy Notice 2024

Please don’t hesitate to contact our Trust Manager, Carla Marshall, if you have any questions. Our contact details are:

Carla Marshall
Sir George Martin Trust
Harlig House, Skipton Road, Ilkley, LS29 9RP

info@sirgeorgemartintrust.org.uk

01943 605372