Swan Mountain Trust

The Swan Mountain Trust, an independent UK grant-making charity established in 1978, is dedicated to addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, with a core mission to support refugees and asylum seekers through organisations providing care, relief, and holistic interventions. Its founding vision emphasises alleviating hardship, advancing health and wellbeing—particularly mental health for young people—relieving poverty, improving housing, and enabling education and training. Guided by values of charitable stewardship, impact, and responsive grant-making, the trust prioritises small charities tackling urgent gaps in psychosocial and practical support, such as welfare, legal advice, community integration, and direct mental health services, as seen in grants to groups like Asylum Welcome.

It funds thematic priorities including mental health initiatives, youth wellbeing, poverty relief, and integration for displaced people, awarding one-off grants for organisational support, service development, capacity building, revenue, and project costs focused on direct service provision.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, with a strong preference for small organisations (annual income under £500,000) operating UK-wide across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland—though grants concentrate in London and the South East. No religious restrictions apply, and it welcomes applications supporting people and communities facing significant disadvantage.

Grants typically range from £1,000 to £4,000, awarded on a rolling basis via initial email enquiry followed by a full proposal (email or post), with decisions at periodic trustee meetings (several weeks' timeline). Distinctively, it avoids open calls, exercising strategic discretion for targeted impact rather than broad funding; it does not emphasise capital or unrestricted grants, setting it apart for grassroots refugee mental health work.