Old Vic Endowment Trust

The Old Vic Endowment Trust is a dedicated endowment fund established to safeguard the long-term future of The Old Vic Theatre, one of London's most iconic cultural institutions, by financing extraordinary, transformative projects beyond routine operations. Its core mission revolves around advancing the arts, promoting education, preserving English heritage, and ensuring theatre's accessibility, innovation, and social impact for public benefit. Guided by values of sustainability, artistic ambition, and inclusivity, the Trust prioritises initiatives that deliver lasting change, such as award-winning productions, expanded education and community programmes, and historic building upgrades like the pioneering Backstage extension.

It funds thematic priorities in the arts, including creative learning, community engagement, talent nurturing, and cultural preservation, benefiting young people, local London communities, aspiring theatre professionals, and underserved audiences through paid placements, mentoring, workshops, and free school access. Support targets projects empowering social mobility and vibrancy at The Old Vic, primarily via its key partner, The Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000.

Eligibility is highly restrictive: unsolicited applications are not accepted, with funding limited to pre-selected partners like The Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000—a large London-based charity—and activities directly benefiting the theatre and its Waterloo community. No income thresholds or entity types are specified beyond this partnership focus.

Grants cover major project and capital costs (amounts unspecified but substantial for multi-year initiatives), approved ad hoc by the board of trustees without public deadlines or open calls. Distinctively, the Trust avoids routine operations, incremental changes, or external grassroots groups, uniquely enabling transformative outcomes for a single historic venue through endowment stability rather than broad philanthropy.