MILLFIELD HOUSE FOUNDATION

Who they support

THROUGH GRANTS TO OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS AND OTHER SUPPORT, WE PROMOTE POLICY CHANGE BY FUNDING PROJECTS THAT INFORM DISCUSSION AND INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICY. OUR AIM IS TO EMPOWER COMMUNITIES AND REDUCE SOCIAL DEPRIVATION.

Grant criteria

Millfield House Foundation funds policy work with the aim of reducing poverty and inequality in the North East of England. Through support for our Strategic Partners, and very occasional one-off grants, the Foundation promotes policy change by funding organisations and work that inform discussion and influence public policy. We focus on underlying causes and take a relational approach to our grant-making.

Grant details

Since 2013, we have concentrated on supporting a small number of organisations - our strategic partners - for whom policy work is core to addressing poverty and inequality. We award unrestricted funding for up to three years at a time, on the understanding that partners are actively encouraged to re-apply. We currently have five strategic partners Citizens’ Advice Newcastle, IPPR North, North East Child Poverty Commission, Regional Refugee Forum North East and Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE). We chose them because they have overarching interests in line with our own agenda of addressing issues of inequality, because they are skilled in policy thinking and development and because we believe that their work contributes to the work of many other policy workers and campaigners in the North East. We have a sustained relationship with them but we neither set their workplans for them nor make detailed demands of them. Occasional one-off grants The Trustees are active in the voluntary sector themselves and always reserve the possibility of investing in interesting or potentially effective ideas that they or their Trust Manager come across. Please note our Open Grants programme is now closed and we no longer accept unsolicited grant applications.

Application procedure

How we fund We invite a limited number of policy-focused organisations to become our strategic partners. We seek to build longer-term funding relationships and partnerships and provide opportunities for our strategic partners and others to share learning and practice.