Michael Marsh Charitable Trust

The Michael Marsh Charitable Trust advances public benefit by funding targeted projects that alleviate hardship for vulnerable populations, embodying values of practical impact, sustained community support, and equity for those facing disadvantage. Their grantmaking philosophy prioritizes grassroots charities delivering concrete interventions with measurable outcomes, favoring innovative, locally-led solutions to enduring challenges like isolation, exclusion, and poverty. They believe change arises through direct service delivery empowering smaller organizations to foster independence, opportunity, and resilience in underserved communities.

They support initiatives for older adults including day services, befriending, and independence programs combating social isolation and maintaining dignity in later life; children and young people with disabilities such as learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, and complex health needs through respite care, after-school clubs, therapeutic activities, and inclusive play schemes; poverty relief delivering food insecurity support, hardship funds, and family crisis intervention for those in financial distress; and educationally disadvantaged youth via mentoring, skills training, SEND support, and employability programs addressing educational exclusion and youth unemployment. Funded activities emphasize person-centred service delivery like peer support groups, outreach, advocacy, and community-led interventions preventing family breakdown, enhancing wellbeing, and building long-term resilience for disabled children, families caring for them, isolated elderly, and low-income households.

They exclude core organizational running costs, general operational expenses, and direct individual funding, focusing solely on discrete project costs. Distinctive for their sharp emphasis on West Midlands communities in urban Black Country towns and surrounding areas facing acute local needs, they prioritize smaller grassroots charities with innovative approaches, patient multi-year support, and rigorous outcome measurement, setting them apart through deep regional resonance and commitment to vulnerable demographics like disabled children, independence-seeking older people, and educationally excluded youth.