Grant Terms and Conditions

Last updated 18 September 2026

1. About these terms

These terms apply to every initial grant application, application and grant made by Seed Education Trust (“Seed”, “we”), registered charity 1197443 in England and Wales. By submitting an initial grant application you accept sections 1 to 6 and 13 to 15. By accepting a grant offer you accept these terms in full, together with the grant offer letter. If the offer letter and these terms differ, the offer letter applies to that grant.

Grants are made at the trustees’ discretion. Nothing on this website is a promise of funding, and meeting the eligibility criteria does not create an entitlement to a grant.

2. Seed’s funds and purpose

Seed nurtures and supports innovative ideas from ethnic minority groups at their inception, the seed stage, with a strong emphasis on educational initiatives for young people. Our funds are charitable funds held on trust for these purposes, and the trustees must use them only in ways that further them and deliver public benefit.

Where funds have been given to Seed as waqf, an endowment dedicated in perpetuity to charitable purposes, we treat that dedication as binding: we apply such funds only to charitable purposes within our objects, we do not use them for private benefit, and we account for them separately in our records. A grant from these funds is a distribution of charitable income, not a gift to the grantee personally.

3. Who can apply

We welcome applications from:

• schools and other learning organisations;
• registered charities and community groups;
• student teams;
• individuals with appropriate oversight, for example a supervising organisation, mentor or trustee body that takes responsibility for the project.

The project must be delivered in the United Kingdom and align with our focus on education and community benefit. Applicants must have a UK bank account in the name of the organisation or, for individuals, an account agreed in the grant offer letter, and must be able to sign the grant offer letter and terms electronically.

4. What grants may be used for

Grants support practical projects that advance education or deliver clear community benefit, including study support, mentoring programmes, workshops, resources and initiatives that improve learning outcomes; projects that build cohesion, address local needs or support young people and families; and small pilots that can scale with evidence, a clear plan and strong value for money.

Funds must be used only for the approved project and the budget stated in your application or agreed in writing afterwards. Reasonable costs directly needed to deliver the project are permitted, including materials, venue hire, equipment, staff or sessional time directly spent on the project, and a fair share of running costs where the offer letter allows it.

Funding is typically £5,000–£10,000+ and may be released in stages, depending on the project and its progress. We scale support to the size and potential of the project.

5. What we do not fund

We do not typically fund:

• projects with no clear education or community benefit;
• projects not delivered in the UK;
• projects with unclear governance and safeguarding arrangements;
• costs already incurred before the grant offer, unless the offer letter says otherwise;
• party-political activity, or the promotion of a political party or candidate;
• activities that would breach UK law or bring Seed into disrepute;
• private benefit to individuals beyond what is incidental to the charitable purpose.

6. How we assess applications

1. Expression of interest. You complete the short form on this website. It is not a full application.
2. Review. Trustees review initial grant applications for impact, feasibility and alignment with our objectives. We aim to review within 7–14 days, usually sooner; this is an aim, not a guarantee. Shortlisted applicants are invited to complete a full application.
3. Due diligence. Before an offer we may ask for evidence of your organisation’s status, governance and safeguarding arrangements, the identity of the people responsible, references, and a budget. We may check public registers.
4. Decision. Trustees decide whether, how much and on what conditions to fund. We tell every applicant the outcome. We do not give reasons in detail and there is no appeal against a funding decision, though you may raise a complaint about the process under section 14.

7. Grant offer and acceptance

Successful applicants receive a Grant Offer Letter and these Terms for e-signature. The offer letter states the amount, the approved purpose and budget, the payment schedule, the reporting dates and any special conditions. The grant is made only when a person authorised by your organisation has signed. An offer not accepted within 30 days may be withdrawn.

8. Payments

• Funds are typically released in stages as the project progresses. The offer letter sets out the stages and what must be shown before each payment.
• Payments are made by bank transfer to the account named in the offer letter. We do not pay cash.
• We may hold a later payment until we have received a satisfactory report or evidence of spend for the earlier one.
• Unused funds must be returned on request, and in any event within 30 days of the project ending, unless we agree in writing that they may be used for an approved purpose.

9. Conditions of every grant

1. Use the funds only for the approved project and stated budget.
2. Keep receipts and records of all spending from the grant for at least 6 years and make them available to us on request.
3. Agree any significant change to scope, timeline or budget with us in writing before making it.
4. Tell us promptly about anything that materially affects the project, including a change in the people running it, a safeguarding concern, a legal or regulatory problem, or a risk that the project cannot be completed.
5. Do not use the grant to pay for the same costs from another funder, and tell us if you receive other funding for the project.
6. Acknowledge Seed’s support where reasonable, for example in publicity about the project, without implying that Seed endorses your organisation generally. Do not use Seed’s name or logo in fundraising without our written agreement.
7. Allow us to refer to your project, organisation name and the amount awarded in our own reporting. We will not publish personal information, quotations or photographs identifying individuals without permission.

10. Reporting and monitoring

A short impact report is requested at least once, including photographs, attendance figures and a narrative summary of outcomes, together with receipts for spend. The offer letter states when reports are due. We may ask reasonable follow-up questions, request further evidence, or arrange a visit or call to see the project. Where photographs show identifiable people, you are responsible for having their permission, and for the permission of a parent or guardian for children.

11. Safeguarding, legal duties and insurance

Safeguarding, health and safety and insurance obligations remain with the grantee. If your project involves children, young people or adults at risk, you must have a written safeguarding policy, carry out the checks the law requires for the people involved, and follow your policy. You are responsible for complying with all laws that apply to your project, including charity, employment, data protection and equality law, and for holding suitable insurance. Seed is not the employer of anyone working on your project and is not liable for your acts or omissions.

12. Misuse of funds, withholding and recovery

We may withhold, reduce, suspend or stop payments, and require repayment of all or part of a grant, if:

• funds are used for anything other than the approved purpose;
• information given to us was materially false or misleading;
• you fail to provide reports, receipts or evidence when due and do not remedy this within 30 days of our written reminder;
• you breach these terms or the offer letter and, where the breach can be put right, do not do so within 30 days of notice;
• a safeguarding failure, legal breach or serious governance failure occurs;
• your organisation becomes insolvent, is wound up or ceases to operate, or the project is abandoned.

We will write to you first, set out our concern and give you a reasonable chance to respond, except where delay would put people or funds at risk. Any amount we ask you to repay is a debt due to Seed within 30 days of our written demand. Where we suspect fraud we may report the matter to the police and to the Charity Commission.

13. Personal information

We use the personal information you give us to assess applications and manage grants, as described in our Privacy Notice.

14. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your application, grant or a request, please contact us and include “Complaint” in your message. We will acknowledge your complaint within 10 working days and a trustee not involved in the original decision will consider it and reply within 30 days. A complaint cannot reopen a funding decision, but we will correct any error in the process. Serious concerns about how a charity is run can also be raised with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version in force on the date of your grant offer letter applies to that grant. For enquiries, please contact us.

Charity no. 1197443