Ashden Trust
/OVERVIEW: The Ashden Trust broadly makes grants for climate change, sustainabel farming in the UK and deforestation.
IP TAKE: This is not typically an accessible funder; however, the Ashden Trust will sometimes issue a ‘Call for Proposals’ for one or more of our programme areas, which invites organizations to submit a proposal on how an organization can work with the Trust to “achieve impact in one of our program areas.” Luckily, the Trust lets you sign up for alerts that signal when it is accepting new proposals. This is an approachable funder, but note that they will take time to get back to you due to the amount of interest they receive.
This is a supportive funder that likes to help its grantees accomplish it’s goals in the name of climate change.
PROFILE: Established in 1989, the Ashden Trust is a member of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. Ashden’s grantmaking is dedicated to supporting “[p]rograms focusing on climate change, sustainable development or improving the quality of life in poorer communities.” The trust’s current specific areas of focus include the Climate Change Collaboration, Stopping Deforestation, Connecting People with Nature, Sustainable Farming, and Ashden - climate solutions in action.
Grants for Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Global Development
The Ashden Trust conducts all of its grantmaking through a climate lens. However, it also has initiatives dedicated to addressing climate change, specifically its Climate Change Collaboration and Ashden - climate solutions in action initiatives. The trust indirectly funds efforts to combat climate change through its other initiatives.
The Climate Change Collaboration initiative is comprised of the Ashden Trust and two other Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, the Mark Leonard Trust and JJ Charitable Trust. This initiative broadly funds efforts which help move “private and public capital away from polluting corporations to companies that will help achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature rises well below 2 degrees and preferably 1.5 degrees.” Since 2015, the Climate Change Collaboration has worked to help spearhead the Divest Invest movement within Europe. The Trust is currently learning “whether the Trust should or must align its own investments with the Paris Agreement to avoid catastrophic climate change, as well as remove potential conflicts between its investments and its charitable work on mitigating climate change.” Past grantees through this initiative include the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, Client Earth and the Carbon Tracker Initiative.
The Trust also funds climate change work directly through its Ashden - climate solutions in action initiative, which is a charity that provides unrestricted funds and promotes sustainable energy innovations to combat climate change.
Grants for Sustainable Agriculture and Conservation
The Ashden Trust’s work to address sustainable farming works to help the UK “rethink its agricultural processes and land management.” Work through this initiative address soil health, biodiversity, are resilient to the effects of climate change and support thriving communities. The Trust doesn’t offer more details than this here, but grant history reflects an interest in conducting this work in the UK only, so if you’re looking for sustainable farming support elsewhere, you are less likely to get funded. Past grantees are based in the UK, Sustain and Soil Association.
The Trust’s work to end deforestation complements its work on climate change. Related grants are purposefully broad, like all of its other grantmaking; however, it makes several grants related to deforestation focused on public education, indigenous peoples’ forests, and legal action support. Past grantees include Amazon Watch and Forest Peoples Programme, among others.
Important Grant Details:
Although the trust awards grants in the $50,000 to $100,000 range, the majority of awards range from around $5,000 to $50,000. Climate change organizations receiving funding from Ashden in the past include the Energy and Climate Information Network, which was awarded a grant rebutting inaccurate climate change stories reported in the media and Fossil Free Netherlands, which received a grant for its campaign for divestment from fossil fuels. To learn more about Ashden grantees, download its Annual Reports.
The Ashden Trust does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
ashdentrust@sfct.org.uk
020 7410 0330
The Peak 5 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1AP
