The RJS Foundation was founded by RJS Solicitors. Its vision is to encourage all our people to work together as a catalyst for change. The RJS Foundation will principally provide funds, by way of grants, to help local communities achieve their full potential.
The RJS Foundation is a registered company limited by guarantee.
To help focus our work, measure our impact, and support the efforts of the business the RJS Foundation will focus our work in the following areas. These complement our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work.
- Community
- Education
- Employability
- Health and Wellbeing
In the first instance please study our Grant Guidelines to ascertain if your project is eligible for funding.
The online application form is available to complete here. If you wish to discuss your proposal at any stage, you are welcome to contact us at foundation@rjssolicitors.com
Please note that the RJS Foundation will only be able to consider grant requests submitted using the online application form.
Applications will be accepted at any time and if eligible for funding will be presented at the next Grants Committee meeting. Please see below guidelines on timescales for applications.
|
Date submitted |
Grant Committee Meeting |
Applicants notified |
|
1st Feb – 30th April |
May |
June – July |
|
1st May – 31st July |
August |
September – October |
|
1st Aug – 31st Oct |
November |
December – January |
|
1st Nov – 31st Jan |
February |
March – April |
The RJS Foundation will welcome applications from constituted organisations in the following areas: ST3, ST4, ST5, ST11, ST12, ST15.
The RJS Foundation will only fund constituted not-for-profit organisations. It will not award grants in relation to the following areas:
- Academic research
- Activities for which a statutory body is responsible
- Activity taking place in school time that is a statutory responsibility
- Evaluation which is not related to the funded work
- Every day running costs and core salaries
- Individuals
- Loans or business finance
- Other grant making bodies
- Professional fundraisers or bid writers
- Professional qualifications
- Recurrent funding
- Redundancy payments
- Religious and political causes
- Administrative startup costs for new organisations
- The advancement of religion
- Universities / HE facilities
- Work that has already taken place
There is no minimum grant you can request. However, due to the amount of funding available, our maximum grant per application is £500.00. This may be increased at the discretion of the Board if considered appropriate.
Due to the funds we have available, the RJS Foundation will not fund multi-year grants.
To make an application for a grant, please complete our online application form
We want to make sure the RJS Foundation supports the interests of our people. If you know someone who works at RJS Solicitors, then please include them as a second reference on your grant application. If you do not know someone from within the business, then please supply us with the contact details of someone who is independent of your organisation and can talk about the work you do.
You will be notified within two months of the Board meeting at which your application is considered.
Successful applicants to the RJS Foundation should wait at least a further 12 months before submitting a new application.
Due to the volume of applications we receive unfortunately not every application will be successful. The RJS Foundation has limited resources available and are therefore unable to notify unsuccessful applicants. If you have not heard from us in accordance with the notification window above then please assume you have been unsuccessful.
If you have any questions regarding applying for a grant from the RJS Foundation please contact us at foundation@rjssolicitors.com
We will use the information you give us during assessment and during the life of your RJS Foundation grant to administer and analyse the RJS Foundation and for our own research purposes.
We may give copies of all or some of this information to individuals and organisations we consult when assessing applications, administering the programme, monitoring the RJS Foundation grant and evaluating the Foundation’s processes and impacts. These organisations will include RJS Solicitors and may also include external evaluators, partners of RJS Solicitors and other third parties involved in delivering the award.
We may also share information with organisations and individuals with legitimate interest in the RJS Foundation, including RJS Solicitors, which is the trading style of RJ Staffordshire Limited.
If any false or inaccurate information is provided in your application, or at any point in the life of any grant we award and fraud is identified, we will provide details to the police and fraud prevention agencies as necessary.
We may also use the data you provide for research purposes. We recognise the need to maintain the confidentiality of vulnerable groups and their details will not be made public in any way, except as required by law.
The RJS Foundation or any party with whom the information is shared shall only use your information for the purposes for which we collected it subject to limited exceptions, such as where they reasonably consider that information may be used for another reason which is compatible with the original purpose for which it was collected, or to provide associated professional services.
We may share your information with RJS Solicitors so that you may receive marketing communications from RJS Solicitors. We will use any information you submit relating to your preferences to develop relevant material to send to you. You will also be able to receive communications such as our newsletters, event invitations and details of our competitions and prize draws. Please note that you have a right to withdraw your consent at any time. If you currently receive marketing communications from the RJS Foundation or RJS Solicitors and would prefer not to receive them in the future, or if you would like to your change your marketing preferences, you can do this at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the marketing communications.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives members of the public the right to request any information that we hold. This includes information received from third parties, such as, although not limited to, the RJS Foundation applicants. If information is requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we will release it, subject to exemptions, and may consult with you before doing so.
If you think that information you are providing may be exempt from release if requested, you should let us know when you apply.