The Steel Charitable Trust is a charitable grant-giving trust that makes awards to registered charities throughout the United Kingdom. The Trust has historic links with Luton, so Trustees take particular interest in applications that benefit these areas.
The Trust maintains an office in Luton, which is visited periodically by the Director, who otherwise works from home. It is the practice of the Trust to discourage the sending of hard copies of documents to the office. Digital correspondence is preferred and especially so now the office is visited only occasionally.
From 2025, and for the next five years, there are two programmes of grant-giving:
- the Luton Matters programme, open to eligible applicants from anywhere in the UK for work that is to be delivered in and for the benefit of Luton and/or its residents
- the United Kingdom Under-26 programme, serving other parts of the UK (except Luton)
Please refer to the Grants menu for further information, appropriate eligibility details and application process. The number of applications received has been very high since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2024, Trustees conducted a strategic review of its grant-giving, introducing the programmes above for 2025 in a pilot phase.
No grants are awarded as a result of a speculative letter or email, a request for a meeting or an emergency appeal; applications are only considered if they are eligible and follow the proper process.
The Trust is a contributor to the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation (BLCF). We encourage any Luton-based applicants seeking funding of up to £10,000 to check what programmes the BLCF is currently offering in that grant range. Luton-based applicants seeking funding of £10,000 or more may apply to The Steel Charitable Trust in the normal way.
Please explore our menus for more information.
Last updated 9 December 2025
steelcharitabletrust.org.uk 