Alexander Pigott Wernher Memorial Trust

The Alexander Pigott Wernher Memorial Trust, established in 1970 as a UK-registered grant-making charity, honors its namesake through a tightly focused mission to advance health and relieve disability, with an enduring emphasis on preventing, treating, and curing blindness and deafness. Governed by a small board of five unpaid trustees without staff or public profile, it embodies a conservative, specialist ethos prioritizing research-driven excellence, knowledge exchange, and high-impact interventions in ophthalmology and otology, such as travelling fellowships, clinical innovations, and partnerships with bodies like the Medical Research Council or Moorfields Eye Charity.

It exclusively funds projects by established UK charities delivering medical research, specialist equipment, training, conferences, services, or occasional capital needs that directly alleviate sensory impairments—never individuals, communities, or broader health causes. Awards target sector-leading organizations advancing evidence-based practice in eye and ear health across England, Wales, and Scotland for UK-wide benefit.

Eligible applicants are solely UK-registered charities, typically medium-to-large with proven track records in blindness/deafness work; grassroots or small groups are rarely supported, and there are no income thresholds but a clear preference for established excellence. Unsolicited applications are not accepted—trustees proactively identify and invite aligned organizations. Grants typically range from £10,000 to £50,000 (often £10,000–£30,000), decided at annual trustee meetings with no fixed deadlines.

Distinctive for its narrow, decades-long specialization excluding general costs, emergencies, unrestricted funding, or non-sensory themes, the trust stands out as a discreet patron of targeted, transformative progress in sensory disability relief.