Brelms Trust CIO

Brelms Trust CIO, established in 2007 as a Charitable Trust by Mary Cornish and converted to CIO status in 2013, is a Yorkshire-rooted funder with a mission to alleviate poverty and disadvantage, empowering marginalised communities to thrive through sustainable social impact. Having awarded over £6.8m in grants, it embodies a deep local ethos, prioritising grassroots charities that tackle exclusion via community-led projects in poverty relief, health advancement, skills development, education, arts, amateur sport, and environmental conservation. Core values emphasise social justice, capacity-building, sound governance, and measurable outcomes, with trustee visits and annual monitoring fostering long-term partnerships over dependency.

It funds both core costs (including salaries and running costs) and projects delivering direct benefits to disadvantaged Yorkshire residents—such as children, youth, older people, those with disabilities, or facing financial hardship and social exclusion—while supporting themes like social inclusion, community development, health, education, arts, and environment at the hyper-local level.

Eligible applicants are small UK-registered charities with annual income under £300,000, fully based, managed, and operating exclusively in Yorkshire; larger or national organisations are ineligible. Typical grants reach up to £6,000 per year for one to three years (max £18,000 total), awarded via an online form with no preliminary stage—applications are rolling but assessed quarterly, with the next deadline 14th August 2025 for January 2026 decisions (2-6 months processing).

Exclusions include religious/political activities, animal welfare, medical research, work outside Yorkshire, appeals, capital, emergencies, or retrospective funding; re-applications require a one-year wait post-report or rejection. Distinctive for its selectivity for embedded, small-scale impact, transparent governance, and socially responsible investments sustaining its endowment.