FORD OF BRITAIN TRUST

You must apply by completing our application form. Before completing the form, please read the Guidance Notes for Grant Applications which accompany the form.
Once we have received your application, together with any supporting documents, we will assess whether it complies with the Trustee’s guidelines and acknowledge all eligible applications.

Accepted applications are considered at Trustee meetings.
Once the Trustees have made a decision, we will write to successful applicants.
We receive many more applications than we unfortunately have resources for. So the number of applicants we are able to help is limited. Please bear in mind that the decision of the Trustees is final.

As part of our decision-making process, we reserve the right to visit applying organisations to view the project first hand, or speak to those involved.
Please note, if your application is successful, you will be required to confirm receipt of your grant. Failure to do so within three months of receipt of a grant cheque may result in your organisation becoming ineligible to receive further grants for up to five years.

What Can You Ask For a Grant For?

You can ask for a grant to help with:

• Contributions to large projects : Refurbishments.
• Buying important items: Such as furniture, equipment, or computers.
• Helping to buy a new vehicle: We can contribute up to £3,000* for this.

*Buying New Ford Vehicles: If you're looking for a grant to buy a new Ford vehicle, the most we can give is £3,000. We'll also need you to show us that you've already raised at least two-thirds (that's about 66%) of the vehicle's total cost from other sources. Please include proof of this with your application.

What Kind of Activities Do We Support?

We love to support projects that involve:

• Work that clearly helps the local community or improves the environment.
• Activities for young people and children.
• Mainstream education and schools.
• Supporting people with special educational needs.
• Projects that help people with disabilities.

Where Do We Focus Our Support?

We consider projects from all over the UK. However, we give a little extra consideration to those located near our Ford operations in:

• Essex (including East London)
• Bridgend (South Wales)
• Southampton
• Daventry
• Manchester
• Liverpool

What We Usually Don't Fund:

We usually don't fund projects for:

• Everyday running costs: Like salaries, venue hire or general bills.
• Training Costs: Paying for staff training or hiring trainers.
• Major construction work: Building new structures from scratch.
• Sponsorships or advertising.
• Research projects.
• Overseas projects or travel.
• Religious or political projects.
• Buying second-hand vehicles.
• Fundraising efforts by others: (Unless it's a special fundraising event organised by Ford Motor Company employees or retirees).

A Few More Important Details:

• IT Equipment: If you're asking for money for IT equipment, here are the maximum amounts we can contribute for each item:

Applying for a Grant

Ready to apply? Great! Just fill out our application form. Before you do, please take a moment to read our helpful guide (Guidance Notes for Grant Applications) that comes with it – it explains everything you need to know.

Once we receive your application and any extra documents, we'll check it against our guidelines. We'll then send you a confirmation that we received it, as long as it meets our basic requirements. Applications that fit our criteria will then be reviewed by our Trustees at their meetings. When they've made their choices, we'll let the successful applicants know.

We wish we could help everyone, but we receive many more applications than we have funds for. This means we can only support a limited number of projects. The Trustees' decision is final, and we appreciate your understanding.

To help us make our decisions, we might sometimes visit your organisation to see the project for ourselves or talk to the people involved.

Finally, if your application is approved, please remember to confirm that you've received your grant. If we don't hear from you within three months of sending the grant, your organisation might not be able to obtain grants from us again for up to five years. We don't want that to happen, so please keep an eye out!

How to Fill Out Your Form

We ask that you please answer every question on the form. If a question doesn't quite fit your project, just write "N/A" (which means "not applicable") in that spot.

When you see a question with choices, please pick the one that best describes your situation from the lists below:

Where are you located?

• Essex (including East London)
• Southampton
• Daventry
• Manchester
• Liverpool
• Other (if your location isn't listed)

What type of project is this?

• Community
• Education
• Engineering
• Environment
• Mainstream School
• Special School
• Youth

What will the grant be used for?

• A new building or big purchase (New Capital Expenditure Project)
• Renovations or updates (Refurbishment)
• Computer or tech equipment (IT equipment)
• Helping to buy a vehicle (Contribution to vehicle purchase)

If you need more space for an answer, feel free to use a separate sheet of paper.

Supporting Your Application

Please include any documents that help us understand your project better, like budget details, project plans, or quotes for equipment.

If you're applying for a large grant, we'll need to see a copy of your organisation's most recent annual financial report. (Good news: schools don't need to send this!).

We can't send back any documents you submit, so please send copies, not originals. However, if there's something specific you really need back, just ask, and we'll do our best to help!

A Note on Publicity

By applying, you're agreeing that if your application is successful, we might share your good news in our publicity or through the Ford Motor Company.

We love it when organisations share that they've received a grant from us! We encourage you to acknowledge our support publicly, perhaps by using our logo on your project materials or in any announcements. We can send you a digital copy (jpeg) of our logo if you're approved.

When Can You Apply Again?

• Small Grant: If you received a small grant from us, you can apply again 12 months after you received the grant award.
• Large Grant: If you received a large grant from us, you'll need to wait 3 calendar years after receiving the grant award before applying again.

Who Can Apply?

We welcome applications from registered charities and non-profit organisations provided that the qualifying organisations meet our selection criteria. While we especially encourage those supported by Ford employees, all qualifying organisations are invited to apply.

We're passionate about helping, but our grants aren't for everyone.

We can't offer grants to:

• Individuals (people applying on their own)
• Community Interest Companies (CICs)
• Local Councils, Government groups, or government departments

We can consider applications from:

• Registered charities
• Schools and their PTAs (This is for state-funded schools that don't charge fees. Unfortunately, we can't fund independent or private fee-paying schools.)
• Non-profit organisations (including smaller clubs and societies)

Download Brochure (PDF 4.2MB)

Grant Application Deadlines and Review Periods:

Please note, FB Trust has updated grant cycle periods. Please note this will not have any impact on the below live grant applications:

• Small grant - December 1^st 2025 – February 28^th  2026

Small Grants (up to £250)

Large Grants (up to £3,000)

Important Information:

• Please note that the grant cycles are expected to be revised in 2026. The updated annual timetable will be available on the website early next year.
• All applicants will receive notification of their outcome after the review.
• Applications received after a deadline will automatically be considered in the next application cycle.

Email Us: You can reach us directly at fbtrust@ford.com

Send Us Mail: If you prefer to send something by post, our address is:

Ford Britain Trust
15-02B D20-B
Ford Dunton Technical Centre
Laindon
Basildon
Essex
SS15 6EE