Truants Foundation

The Truants Foundation, established in 2019 and registered as a UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2020, evolved from a decade of fundraising by founder Rod Smallwood and music industry trustees, including the Heavy Metal Truants initiative since 2010. Its mission is to relieve children in need worldwide due to ill health, poverty, or hardship, and promote life preservation and health through grants to charities, not direct services. Rooted in collaborative, high-profile fundraising via cycling rides, golf days, auctions, and music-linked events like the London-to-Download Festival ride, it maximises donations—recently nearing £1 million annually—with minimal overheads, transparency, and rigorous stewardship aligned to Charity Commission standards.

It exclusively funds a preselected trio of major UK children's charities—Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, Teenage Cancer Trust, and Childline (NSPCC)—with Save the Children added for international humanitarian crises. Priorities target vulnerable children facing cancer, therapeutic needs, abuse/neglect risks, or poverty, supporting improved health, wellbeing, life chances, and protection via unrestricted core funding for general operations.

Eligible entities are solely large, established UK-registered charities with national reach; small or grassroots groups are unsupported. Funds require UK operational base, with geographic focus on England/Wales but global impact possible via partners. No income thresholds specified.

Typical annual grants range £200,000–£350,000 per beneficiary, divided equally post-fundraising cycles, disbursed once yearly by trustees. No unsolicited applications, deadlines, or open processes—invitation-only for longstanding partners. Distinctively, it avoids project-specific, capital, or direct aid funding, standing out for music-entertainment ties, event-driven energy, and unwavering focus on proven children's causes without diversification.