Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust Grant

The objectives of the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust are to donate to UK registered charities whose purposes encompass one or more of the following:

• To benefit or protect animals
• To relieve animals from suffering
• To conserve wildlife
• To encourage the understanding of animals

They invite applications for funding, which are then reviewed against specific criteria, as set by the Trustees in accordance with the objectives of the Trust.

The Trust aims to support registered charities by making donations toward the following:

• General running costs associated with the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing or release of domestic, wild and exotic animals.
• Costs associated with the direct protection of endangered species.
  Feeding, capture, neutering and release of feral cats and dogs.
• Assistance with vets’ fees and neutering costs of animals owned by those facing financial hardship.
• Please note, Trustees prefer to see awards being used to benefit the largest number of animals possible ( e.g. for neutering, worming, vaccinating & treating minor injuries & illnesses) rather than assisting a small number of complex cases.
• The Trustees may also pledge funds towards larger projects, which will only be released when all other funding is in place and the work is ready to commence. The maximum pledge we will give is unlikely to exceed £35k.
• Donations toward the purchase or improvement of property or fixed buildings are only considered if:
  a) the property is clearly in the ownership of the charity, or b) at least 10 years is left to run on the charity’s lease, or c) a letter from the landowner states that the charity will be reimbursed for the improvements on sale of the property or at the end of the lease. Otherwise, support for improvements on non-charity owned land can only be considered when they do not increase the saleable value of the property.

The Trust favours applications from smaller animal welfare charities registered as above and working in the UK and/or abroad:

• Which have independently examined up to date annual accounts;
• Which demonstrate an active re-homing and rehabilitation policy for animals taken into their care, unless the animals are endangered species;
• Are involved with conservation of wildlife, where the rescue, rehabilitation and (when possible) the release of animals is their main aim.

There are three application deadlines each year, open to charities registered in the UK.

The Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust expects all applicants with an annual income of over £5,000 to be charities and to have been registered for at least 12 months with one of the following:

• The Charity Commission for England and Wales
• The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
• The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland

The Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust will NOT support:

• Applications from individuals.
• Charities registered outside the UK.
• Charities offering sanctuary to animals, with no effort to re-home, foster or rehabilitate unless endangered species.
• Charities which import dogs or other animals from overseas, unless they can satisfy all of the criteria on the attached link.
• Charities that do not have a realistic destruction policy for animals that cannot be given a reasonable quality of life be that medical or behavioural.
• Charities with cash and/or investments valued at more than one year’s expenditure will not qualify for a donation, unless it can be demonstrated that reserves are being held specifically for a stated or defined project.
• Charities that spend more than a reasonable proportion of their annual income on administration or cannot justify their costs per animal helped.
• Applications for a loan.
• They would not normally support an application from overseas charities for funds for capital expenditure.
• Veterinary Schools, unless the money can be seen to be directly benefiting the type of animals the Trust would want to support e.g. welfare-related or low-cost first opinion vet treatment projects.

You will need to apply online on their website.

Deadlines are as follows.

01/04/2025 for their summer meeting

01/08/2025 for their Autumn meeting

Awards are usually made within 4 months of the application deadline. Please bear this in mind and plan ahead.