FAQs
Below are some questions that we are frequently asked. Please click on the question to reveal the answer.
Questions about the Trust
In 1937, 30,000 shares in pharmaceutical company Southall (Birmingham) Ltd were sold to for £7,500. This sum was then endowed to the Southall Trust. Then, in 1991 and 2000 further sums were endowed to the Trust, following amalgamations with other Southall family charitable trusts (please visit for our history page more information). Over the years this endowment has been carefully invested and it has grown substantially in size.
The endowment generates a regular income, from interest and dividends, and further income is generated when investments are sold. This income is then passed on to charitable organisations in the form of grants.
To note, the Southall Trust is committed to investing its endowment ethically. For example, due to the Quaker stance on non-violence, every effort is made to ensure that no investment is are held in a companies involved with arms dealing.
The amount we give away is entirely dependent upon the performance of our investments. In recent years our giving has grown to around £300,000 per year.
Please note that, in recent years, the Trust has been committed to spending more than it receives from its investments portfolio each year. This is possible due to the significant value of the endowment. The trustees have chosen to do this primarily to award more grants to more causes, but also to stop the portfolio value growing beyond the rate of inflation in the long run.
The trustees govern the Trust, in accordance with the requirements of the Charity Commission of England & Wales. All give their time to the Trust voluntarily and all are descendants of Wilfred Southall. You can read more about them and how they are related in the trustee section of this website.
The trustees meet every four months (three times per year). However, most grant applications are assessed by sub-groups of trustees, usually every two to three months.
Questions from Applicants
Most of our grants are between £1,000 and £5,000 per year and our average grant is around £3,000.
Organisations that we have supported before may apply for more than £5,000 per year. However, please bear in mind that the processing time for these requests can be signifiantly longer, because they must first be assessed by a sub-group of trustees and then - if the sub-group wishes to support the request for more than £5,000 - the application must be considered at a full trustee meeting (which are held roughly every four months).
Please visit our dedicated grant category pages on this website to see examples of recent grants the we have awarded.
There are three deadlines for applications during the year. As a rough guide, deadlines will be as follows:
- Late April/Early May (Round 1)
- Late August/Early September (Round 2)
- Late December/Early January (Round 3)
We appreciate that feedback can be of some value to unsuccessful applicants and therefore we do try to give feedback whenever time permits. However, because the Trust has just one part-time employee, we are limited in terms of how much feedback we can offer and, during exceptionally busy periods, we regret that providing feedback is not always possible.
If you have not received an application outcome within six months of applying then we are sorry to say that the application was most likely unsuccessful. However, please feel free to contact us for feedback, and we will do our best to respond.
Please note that we do not respond to applicants who have clearly ignored our application guidelines.
Applicants should receive a receipt of an online application almost immediately (contact us if you have not received a receipt, but please check your junk mail first!).
We aim to respond to applications for up to £5,000 within four months.
Applications for more than £5,000 usually take longer to process (sometimes up to 10 months) because, at present, these require discussion at full trustee meetings, which are held in March and November.
Yes. We give grants for capital costs as well as grants for core/revenue/running costs. However, generally speaking, we do not fund on-going running costs where there seems to be no demonstration of the project or organisation's sustainability.
No. Each organisation can only apply to us once every 12 months and then not again until at least 12 months after a decision has been communicated to the organisation.
The Trust is run by just one part-time employee. Generally, between 10am and 4pm on weekdays is the best time to try calling.
Please note that the Trust has a voicemail system, which is available at all times and, so long as you leave relevant details, we will respond to you.
No. We ended our postal application system in 2018, to save applicants and the Trust from unnecessary printing, postal and travel costs. Our application system is now entirely online only.
Questions from Grant Holders
Please click here for our dedicated page about grant reporting.
Grant holders are asked to provide a report following the end of the grant period. Ideally, we would like to receive reports within three months of the grant period ending.
Reports are not supposed to be an onerous task - we would just like to know how the grant was actually spent and what impact it had. Stories are particularly helpful for us to understand how the project has made a difference to people. Photos and short films are also good!
We do not chase for reports, and they are not compulsory; however, it should be noted that if a charity does not submit a grant report it will affect our decision to award another grant, should one be requested.
There is no requirement to publicise a grant from the Southall Trust and publicity is not something we seek. However, if your charity feels that publicising a grant from the Trust might be beneficial to your cause, then please do so.
Before re-applying, grant holders must allow at least 12 months to pass from the date our last grant was awarded.
Please note that, if any grant reports are outstanding, we will not usually consider a new application until that report is received (reports can be submitted along with a new application).