Pears Foundation grants
Pears Foundation is an invitation-only family foundation giving around £27.55 million a year to partner charities across the UK and overseas.
Guidance last checked 16 July 2026· from the funder’s own website
Overview
Pears Foundation is a family foundation (charity number 1009195) funding work across the UK and overseas, including the United States, Israel, Ghana and Germany. It made grants to organisations totalling around £27.55 million in its latest year. It is an invitation-only foundation and does not accept open applications, instead identifying partners through its own research, networks and landscape reviews. It typically provides unrestricted core funding or funding for essential costs such as staff posts, and builds long-term relationships with partners, alongside professional development and leadership support.
What they fund
Pears Foundation funds partners working on poverty, disability, education and health, with a particular focus on organisations supporting families facing challenging circumstances such as mental health needs, special educational needs and disability, and social disadvantage.
Who and where
It funds across the UK and internationally, including in the United States, Israel, Ghana and Germany, supporting people with disabilities, children and young people, and elderly people, among other groups.
Who they help
Where they fund
What Pears Foundation 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.
What they say they're looking for
“We fund partners who provide support to families facing challenging circumstances, from mental health to special educational needs and disability, to extreme poverty and social disadvantage.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Carers Trust - Pears Foundation →
Who they say they'll fund
“We are not able to offer training for the wider sector so please only book a session if you work for a UK-based organisation that is currently in receipt of Pears Foundation funding.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Professional Development Programme - Pears Foundation →
How they say to apply
“We are an invitation-only foundation. We draw on our experience, networks, landscape reviews and research to identify our partners.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Pears Foundation →
“We give core funding – unrestricted grants or funding for essential costs such as staff posts – whenever appropriate because we trust our partners to make their own decisions about what is most needed and where the money should go.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Pears Foundation →
“We offer professional development to our grantees with a particular focus on leadership and supporting the individuals who make up their teams. We also offer physical space and organisational development support.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Pears Foundation →
“We view our grantees as partners and we value the way our relationships evolve and deepen over time.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Pears Foundation →
“Pears Foundation supports organisations working to remove barriers that prevent people from participating fully in society.”
Source: pearsfoundation.org.uk — Pears Foundation →
What a typical grant looks like
| Typical (median) grant | £65,000 |
|---|---|
| Middle half of grants | £30,000 – £110,000 |
| Grants published openly | 607 |
| Most recent published grant | 2023 |
Recent grants
- Leeds Community FoundationPass through funding to local youth organisations in Leeds and Bradford.£300,000March 2023
- 360GivingCore Funding£60,000March 2023
- University College LondonA pilot project with Outward Grange Academy Trust£44,437March 2023
- The Board of Deputies of British JewsFunding for the National Yom HaShoah Holocaust memorial ceremony£5,000March 2023
- Hebrew University of JerusalemScholarships and alumni networks across the three degree programmes: Public Health, Agriculture/Nutrition and Glocal£1,000,000March 2023
- Anna FreudCore Funding£300,000March 2023
From grants Pears Foundation publishes openly via 360Giving (the UK open grants-data standard), used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Their charitable objects
As registered with the Charity Commission (their formal purposes):
The promotion of health, advancement of education and relief of poverty and such other charitable purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of england and wales as the trustees may from time to time determine
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 Pears Foundation typically give?
Across a recent sample of 607 grants, the typical (median) award was around £65,000, with the middle half of grants falling between roughly £30,000 and £110,000.
What does Pears Foundation fund?
It funds partners supporting families facing challenging circumstances, from mental health needs and special educational needs and disability, to extreme poverty and social disadvantage, as well as organisations working to remove barriers to participation in society.
Who can apply to Pears Foundation?
Pears Foundation is an invitation-only foundation and does not accept unsolicited applications; it identifies its partners itself through its own experience, networks, landscape reviews and research. Its Professional Development Programme is limited to UK-based organisations already in receipt of Pears Foundation funding.
How do I apply to Pears Foundation?
As an invitation-only funder, there is no open application process. Trustees can check the funder's own website, www.pearsfoundation.org.uk, and its entry on the Charity Commission register (charity number 1009195) for current information.
Is your charity a fit for Pears Foundation?
Type your charity’s name and we’ll check this funder — and every other active UK grant-maker — against your purposes, your area and your size. Free, and nothing to fill in: we read your entry on the official register.
Check my charity’s matches — free →Thinking of applying? Start here.
Finding a funder is the easy part. These short guides help with the part that decides whether you get the money.
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 Pears Foundation.