Archer Trust

The Archer Trust, established in 1994 in memory of Unilever executive Ronnie Archer by his widow Catherine, is a UK grant-making charitable trust inspired by Christian values yet open to charities of all faiths and ethnicities. Its mission centers on empowering small, well-managed UK charities to alleviate disadvantage, marginalization, and suffering, enabling underserved individuals to live with dignity through modest grants that unlock significant impact. With a pragmatic, compassionate ethos, it prioritizes organizations leveraging volunteers, local resources, and robust governance to address high-unemployment and deprived areas across the UK and overseas projects via UK intermediaries.

Core funding supports relief of suffering among the elderly, disabled, economically disadvantaged, homeless, refugees, offenders, victims of abuse, children, families, ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ people, women, girls, young people, and faith communities. It backs education (formal/informal), befriending, mentoring, advocacy, social care, employability, campaigning, core costs, and capacity building, as seen in recent grants for homelessness support, youth mental health, deprived-area education, disability empowerment, and faith projects.

Eligible applicants are small UK-registered charities (grants ≤10% of income, no >9 months' reserves) demonstrating effective management and impact potential; larger or poorly resourced groups are unsuitable. Applications are unsolicited via website eligibility checker followed by email (narrative, finances, impact evidence); rolling intake with biannual trustee meetings (typically March/September) yield decisions in 2-8 months. Typical unrestricted grants (£1,000-£5,000; ~200/year) exclude evangelism, research, heritage/conservation, animals, access conversions, and umbrella bodies. Distinctive for its responsive small-grant focus, ethical stewardship, and volunteer-centric approach, it differentiates through tangible change for defined marginalized groups.