Atherton Family Charitable Trust

The Atherton Family Charitable Trust, established in 2014 by Richard Atherton with support from Jacqueline Atherton, is a family-run grant-making trust governed by six trustees, including family members and Stevens & Bolton Trustees Limited. Its core mission is to steward family philanthropy by supporting UK-registered charities delivering notable impact in education and training, advancing health and saving lives, disability services, and arts, culture, heritage, or science. With a prudent, impact-oriented approach, it prioritizes worthwhile organizations often overlooked by mainstream funders, emphasizing broad sectoral improvement through direct service delivery, project costs, core funding, and occasional capacity building for diverse beneficiaries like children, young people, people with disabilities, and the general public.

The trust funds a generalist range of activities across these themes, including schools, community arts programs, health and disability charities, and scientific or heritage institutions, without narrow sub-focuses like specific diseases. It supports both national and local UK charities with robust governance and track records, operating UK-wide with no regional restrictions.

Eligibility is strictly limited to UK-registered charities; unsolicited applications are not accepted, with grants selected at trustees' discretion following annual meetings—no public deadlines, forms, or processes exist. Typical grants range from £5,000 to £25,000 (occasionally up to £30,000), with annual disbursements of £80,000–£130,000 across multiple awards, favoring small to medium-sized organizations without formal income thresholds.

Distinctive for its lean, discreet governance without paid staff, the trust avoids religious restrictions or rigid exclusions, differentiating itself as a personalized, family-led generalist funder ready to back under-resourced but effective charities in core UK philanthropic fields.