The Trustees of The Steel Charitable Trust are investing in children and young people through this programme. During 2025, the Trustees made 38 new awards under this banner, details of which will be published at the Trust’s year end. However, this represented a success rate of less than 3%, and so it has been decided to suspend open applications for this programme in 2026.
New awards will be made in 2026, but these will be from applicants that have received an invitation to apply from Trustees. This is not necessarily a blueprint for subsequent years – Trustees are keeping this programme and its method of operation under review.
With such very high demand – amounting to several hundred applications every quarter – the Trust is not resourced to respond to requests to be considered for an invitation or for individual calls and meetings. These would become proxy informal applications which an organisation of this size cannot manage.
If your work brings benefits to children or young people who live in Luton (regardless of where you are based), you may be eligible to apply for the Luton Matters Fund, which will continue to offer an open application period for a limited time in 2026.
What about reporting if we received a grant in 2025?
A report is required for all grants made and any specific conditions will have been communicated when the award was made. However, we try to keep the reporting requirements ‘light touch’ and do not make specific demands in terms of format or length, enabling you to re-use other reports you may have prepared. Reports are expected between 10 and 18 months following the award, as appropriate.
steelcharitabletrust.org.uk 