Starlow Charities Limited

Starlow Charities Limited, established in July 1999 as a company limited by guarantee and registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (number 1081386), is a traditional grant-making charity governed by three trustees from its North London office. Its core mission is to channel significant donations and investment income—often exceeding £1 million annually—into grants for UK-registered charities aligned with broad charitable objects, emphasizing flexible institutional support without thematic, beneficiary, or regional focus. This generalist, responsive approach prioritizes acting as a conduit for diverse charitable purposes, eschewing proactive strategies, published theories of change, or mission-driven initiatives.

The funder supports a wide array of general charitable activities through unrestricted or flexible grants, including core funding and project support for medium to large UK-registered charities, with no specified causes, programmes, or beneficiary groups. There are no religious restrictions, geographic preferences beyond UK registration, or income thresholds, though it shows a preference for organizations of substantive scale.

Grants typically range from £25,000 to £250,000, as seen in recent disbursements like £1.15 million in the year ending July 2024. Starlow operates invite-only, accepting no unsolicited applications, published processes, deadlines, or meeting schedules; trustees make ad hoc decisions at their discretion without competitive rounds or enquiry contacts. Distinctively, it lacks funding exclusions, case studies, impact reports, or unique programmes, differentiating it as a purely discretionary, low-profile institutional supporter focused solely on compliant UK charities rather than innovation, small grassroots efforts, direct services, or targeted social change.