1989 Willan Charitable Trust

The Trust funds core costs and activities for charities tackling high deprivation. This includes capital work and refurbishments for community buildings, self-help initiatives that improve quality of life, youth services that close educational gaps or steer young people away from crime and antisocial behaviour, and support for communities affected by crime. It also supports arts projects that address deprivation and makes small grants to uniformed groups such as Sea Cadets, Scouts, Guides and Boys' Brigade. Additional priority areas are North East maritime heritage projects and Project Trust volunteer placements for local young people. Geographically, the Trust supports work in County Durham, Tees Valley, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities and community groups whose work benefits North East England. The Trust favours smaller, community-rooted organisations, typically those with relatively modest incomes and limited reserves. National charities can apply only if their work is exclusively focused on the North East. The people who benefit are primarily residents living in the areas the Trust supports, with a strong bias towards locally based groups that understand their communities.

The Trust does not fund work that takes place outside North East England, and it is unlikely to support national charities unless their activity is entirely focused on the region. Organisations with substantial reserves are not a priority. It also avoids creating over-reliance on its grants, so it limits repeated applications from the same groups.

The Trust provides both one-off and multi-year grants, and it is willing to fund core costs as well as project activities. It tends to make grants that form a material portion of a charity's costs, reflecting its preference for strategic, locally rooted support. Organisations may apply directly, without being invited, and the Trust favours work that shows clear, measurable outcomes.