It is a local charity run by Derbyshire Freemasons for the benefit of local communities, and for Freemasons and their families.

Its purpose is to build better lives by enabling opportunity, advancing healthcare and education, and promoting independence for all.

Our work is funded solely through the generous donations of Freemasons, their families and friends.

One of the oldest social and charitable organisations in the world, the roots of modern Freemasonry lie with the medieval stonemasons that built our castles and cathedrals, yet it is as relevant today as it was hundreds of years ago.

Freemasons use four important guiding principles to help define their path through life: Integrity, Friendship, Respect and Charity.

We donate over £100,000 each year to local charities.

The Derbyshire Provincial Charity supports local charities and similar not-for-profit organisations supporting Derbyshire communities.

For full eligibility, please visit the Eligibility Criteria page.

Generally, No. Consideration to assess may be given only in the most exceptional circumstances.

Yes – our main charity grants programmes are only for charities and projects in Derbyshire.

You must be able to provide us with audited or independently inspected charity accounts. We also expect organisations to be able to demonstrate a track record of service delivery.

Yes – but only if you have written permission to do so from your head office.

If you are part of a larger or a national charity, with the same charity number, and legally governed by the same board of trustees, we require your larger/national charity to provide written permission which you must tell us on the application and be prepared to send us a copy if we ask.

Please be aware that we are only able to accept one application per charity number at at time and re-application rules will apply to that number, regardless of whether a different branch of the charity or head office has applied under that same registration number.

Yes. You will need, however to be able to produce at least one year’s audited or independently inspected charity accounts.

Yes. The charity is required to have its own bank account. In addition, financial best practice and prudence requires two signatories on a cheque.

No, unfortunately we cannot accept any application unless the organisation has a full set of independently examined or audited accounts.

No. Organisations can only have one active grant from us at a time.

If your grant application was declined, you must wait for one year from the date of the rejection before reapplying.

The grant ends 12 months from the date of the last payment/instalment or project completion. For example, a one year grant awarded in 2021 ends in 2022; the charity would be eligible to reapply in 2024.

You must have one year’s published accounts as the merged organisation.

Please visit our Applications Deadlines Page.

Grants awarded are typically between £250 to £5000 but may vary and are subject to funding availability.

Grants are available that will be used within 12 months of an offer letter.

No.

No.

Yes, if within an existing charity and forms part of their Objectives.

No.

You must attach your current Safeguarding Policy if you have one but no other documents.

You cannot attach any other document. You can, however, indicate on the application form that you would like to provide up to two supporting documents. We welcome impact reports, pilot evaluations or anything else you feel would be relevant to your application. If considered necessary we will contact you about it.

Please see the item above.

The entire form must be completed in full. If we require further financials you will be contacted. You cannot attach any documents other than your Safeguarding policy if you have one.

Your finance worker, accountant/auditor, council for voluntary service or other support agency should be able to assist you as we use this information to help us assess the financial strength of your organisation.

If you have a question about the wording of a question then you would be welcome to contact us for clarification.

No, we cannot accept postal or emailed applications, all forms are ‘online’ only.

There will be a ‘Submit’ button for you to click once the application has been completed.

Our application form is compatible with assistive technology.

You will receive an acknowledgement and copy of your application shortly after submission.

This will be sent to the email address you gave us in your application. You may need to check your spam filter to find the emails.

If you haven’t heard from us within seven working days of submitting your application please contact us to check whether we received it.

Yes – please make sure that you keep us up dated of any important changes that may affect the outcome of your application.

This is especially important if your contact details change, or if the person who submitted the application leaves your organisation.

No – your charity does not require a connection to a Freemason.

If you are a Freemason who is interested in referring a charity for a grant, please do not hesitate to share our website with the organisation or give them our contact details so we can advise them on how to apply.

Charities go through a rigorous assessment process before being selected for support. We assess applicants on several criteria: the need being addressed, whether the activities effectively tackle this need, the charity’s financial situation, the capacity and sustainability of the organisation and its project, reach and potential impact, how results are monitored, etc. Because we are funded by Derbyshire Freemasons we aim to reflect that in the grants we make and try to have a good geographic spread within the county.

Not necessarily – when considering the impact of the project we take into account both the numbers of people that are reached and the depth of the project’s intervention to those involved.

Please refer to the Deadlines page.

At the time of making the application you agreed to a number of Terms and Conditions and requirements as listed in the Terms and Conditions page, which is required before you access the application form. These would come into force once you have been offered and accept a Grant.

Over the duration of the project you will be required to provide periodic and/or completion reports. A member of the Case and Finance Committee may conduct a visit. On occasion we may also ask your organisation to speak at one of our events to raise further awareness of the topic and the work we are doing together.

We will arrange for you to meet with local Freemasons for a presentation and to secure any publicity opportunities.

Yes. We will provide feedback at whichever stage your application is rejected.

The main reason for not funding projects is that we receive many more applications than we can support, which unfortunately causes us to turn down many of the charities that apply to us.

We are always happy to help with any questions you may have.

Please contact us by email.