Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust grants
Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust makes donations usually of £1,000 to a normal maximum of £10,000 to UK-registered charities working on animal welfare and wildlife conservation.
Guidance last checked 16 July 2026· from the funder’s own website
Overview
Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust funds UK registered charities whose purposes encompass benefiting or protecting animals, relieving animals from suffering, or conserving wildlife. Donations usually range from £1,000 to a normal maximum of £10,000, and larger donations may be considered by trustees on a case-by-case basis. It will not fund individuals, charities not registered in the UK, or an application received within 12 months of your previous one. Charities with cash and/or investments valued at more than one year's expenditure will not qualify, unless it can be demonstrated that reserves are being held specifically for a purpose. Charities offering sanctuary to animals are also excluded if they do not strive to re-home, foster or, for wildlife, release animals back into the wild, unless doing so would endanger the animal. Its published deadlines are 1 December for the spring meeting, 1 April for the summer meeting and 1 August for the winter meeting. Awards are usually made within four months of the deadline; confirm the dates with the trust before you rely on them.
What they fund
The Charity Commission register records the broad areas this charity works in. For the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust this is animals.
Who and where
The register also records who it works with and where. It lists other charities and voluntary bodies, throughout England and Wales, with work also recorded in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who they help
Where they fund
What Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust says in its own guidance
Quoted directly from the funder’s own website, with a link to the page each quote came from. Always the most current word is theirs — check the source before you apply.
Who they say they'll fund
“UK registered charities whose purposes encompass one or more of the following: to benefit or protect animals to relieve animals from suffering to conserve wildlife”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust | Support Animal Welfare Today →
What they say they won't fund
“Applications from individuals Charities not registered in the UK Applications received within 12 months of any previous application to the Trust”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — UK Charities working in the UK Guidelines | Discover UK Charities – Learn More Now — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
“Charities offering sanctuary to animals that do not strive to re-home, foster or, in the case of wildlife release back into the wild, unless to do so would endanger the animal”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — UK Charities working in the UK Guidelines | Discover UK Charities – Learn More Now — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
“Charities with cash and/or investments valued at more than one year's expenditure will not qualify for a donation, unless it can be demonstrated that reserves are being held specifically for a purpose”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — UK Charities working in the UK Guidelines | Discover UK Charities – Learn More Now — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
Grant sizes they mention
“Donations usually range from £1,000 to a normal maximum of £10,000. Larger donations may be considered by Trustees, on a case by case basis.”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — Grant Applications — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
Deadlines they mention
“1st December (for our Spring meeting) 1st April (for our Summer meeting) 1st August (for our Winter meeting)”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — Grant Applications — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
How they say to apply
“awards are usually made within 4 months of the application deadline”
Source: jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk — Grant Applications — Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust →
Their charitable objects
As registered with the Charity Commission (their formal purposes):
Any object or purpose of objects or purpose wholly and exclusively charitable according to the law of england and wales in such manner as the benefactor shall from time to time approve and after the death benefactor (subject to any prior appointment by her) primarily for animal welfare relieve animals from suffering…
How to approach them
Start with the official sources — they’re always more current than any directory, including this one.
Common questions
How much does the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust typically give?
It says donations 'usually range from £1,000 to a normal maximum of £10,000. Larger donations may be considered by Trustees, on a case by case basis.' In its most recent published accounts it made £561,300 in grants to organisations. It does not publish a typical (median) grant figure.
What does the Trust fund?
It funds UK-registered charities whose purposes are to benefit or protect animals, to relieve animals from suffering, or to conserve wildlife. The Charity Commission register records its area of work as animals.
Who can apply?
UK-registered charities working on animal welfare or wildlife conservation. It does not accept applications from individuals or from charities not registered in the UK.
What won't the Trust fund?
It lists 'Applications from individuals[,] Charities not registered in the UK[,] Applications received within 12 months of any previous application to the Trust'. It also says 'Charities with cash and/or investments valued at more than one year's expenditure will not qualify for a donation, unless it can be demonstrated that reserves are being held specifically for a purpose', and that it will not support 'Charities offering sanctuary to animals that do not strive to re-home, foster or, in the case of wildlife release back into the wild, unless to do so would endanger the animal'.
How do I apply?
It has three application deadlines a year: '1st December (for our Spring meeting)[,] 1st April (for our Summer meeting)[,] 1st August (for our Winter meeting)'. It says awards are usually made within 4 months of the application deadline. Check the funder's own website (jeansainsburyanimalwelfare.org.uk) and its Charity Commission entry (charity number 326358) for current guidance, as processes can change.
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Contains public sector information from the Charity Commission for England and Wales licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and grants data from 360Giving used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Figures are derived (filtered and summarised by TrusteeMeetings), not republished unchanged. About the data · Terms of use. This page is a starting point for your own research, not a promise of funding, and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust.