Biddestone Trust

The Biddestone Trust, established on 14 June 1974, is a grant-making charitable trust dedicated to promoting and advancing the evangelical Christian faith as defined by the Westminster Confession, Savoy Confession, and London Baptist Confession of 1689. Rooted in Reformed Protestant Puritan values, it prioritises doctrinal purity taught by English Reformers and Puritans, providing financial relief, support, and aid to ministers, missionaries, churches, and their dependents engaged in ministry aligned with this conservative evangelical tradition. Its ethos emphasises sustaining theological integrity through targeted funding for doctrinal teaching, outreach, hardship relief, and core ministry costs.

The trust funds activities that uphold Reformed evangelical priorities, including general support for small to medium-sized churches, missionary work, individual minister relief, and aid to dependents, primarily across the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) with potential international extension at trustees' discretion. Beneficiaries must demonstrate close alignment with the trust's confessional standards; it supports grassroots entities rather than large national charities, with no strict income thresholds but a preference for modest-sized operations.

Grants typically range from £1,000 to £10,000, drawn from annual expenditures around £140,000 spread across multiple awards. As an invite-only funder, it does not accept unsolicited applications or publish forms, deadlines, or rounds—decisions occur at ad hoc trustee meetings based on known relationships within the Reformed evangelical community.

Distinctively, the Biddestone Trust excludes support for those outside its strict doctrinal tradition, setting it apart with unwavering confessional clarity and a traditionalist philosophy that reinforces evangelical Puritan convictions, making it an ideal fit for authentically aligned ministries seeking doctrinally focused aid.