The Portal Trust (previously the Sir John Cass Foundation) supports a wide range of educational establishments, special educational projects, grants and bursaries in and around the City of London.
The aim of the Trust is to promote the education of young people in inner London through its grant programmes for individuals, educational institutions and charitable organisations. The Trust wants to enable young people to experience life-enhancing educational opportunities.
There is no minimum or maximum grant amount that can be applied for. Sometimes projects are funded in their entirety while others require match funding.
Projects should meet with one or more of the following priorities:
- Widening access and participation in further and higher education: to promote access to further and higher education for disadvantaged young people in inner London
- Truancy, exclusion and behaviour management: to encourage and support children and young people's attainment through initiatives that help them engage with, and stay in, education
- Prisoner education: to reduce re-offending through education and initiatives that promote employability
- New initiatives: to influence and improve education policy and practice with direct impact on inner London students from disadvantaged backgrounds and with potential for influence at scale
- Scholarships, bursaries and individual grants: to remove financial barriers and empower young Londoners to achieve their potential in further or higher education
Applications can be made at any time and will be considered three times a year (usually in March, June and October).
The Trust operates a two-stage application process - an initial enquiry and a full application stage. Applicants should first complete the eligibility quiz application on the website. Eligible organisations will then be taken to the online application portal.
For further information, including spending restrictions, visit The Portal Trust's website (below).