Stevenage Community Trust

Stevenage Community Trust is an independent local grant-making charity established in 1990 by Hilda Lawrence, Stevenage's first female mayor, to support disadvantaged individuals, families, charities, and community groups in Stevenage and its surrounding villages. Funded solely by donations, memberships, and fundraising—having distributed over £2.5 million without government support—its mission centers on practical compassion, addressing urgent hardship, social exclusion, health needs, disability, and crises through small, targeted grants. Core values emphasize hyperlocal focus, independence, equal opportunities, swift responses, and community accountability via local trustees and volunteers.

The Trust funds a broad array of charitable purposes, including poverty relief, education and training, health advancement, disability support, housing, arts, culture, heritage, sport, environment, and recreation. Priority beneficiaries are children and young people, elderly individuals, those with disabilities, ethnic minorities, families in crisis, and grassroots groups. Supported activities range from life-changing equipment for disabled children and emergency financial aid to community clubs, mental/physical well-being initiatives, and social inclusion projects, favoring tangible, immediate impacts like those for Stevenage Survivors Poetry Group or sheltered housing.

Eligible applicants include UK-registered charities, community groups, academic institutions, sports clubs, schools, and individuals/families strictly in Stevenage or villages such as Almshoe Bury, Aston, Benington, Cromer, Datchworth, Graveley, Knebworth, Great/Little Wymondley, Old Knebworth, Rabley Heath, Walkern, Watton-at-Stone, Weston, and Woolmer Green; smaller organizations with limited reserves are preferred, with rigorous safeguarding checks required. Typical grants range £250–£3,000 for organizations (lower for individuals), awarded quarterly via online forms—next deadline 8 October 2025—with rolling emergency support for urgent cases. It avoids large-scale/multi-year funding, organizations with big reserves, or repeat grants except exceptionally, distinguishing itself through agile, community-rooted responsiveness and belief in small grants' outsized local impact.