Brian Murtagh Charitable Trust

The Brian Murtagh Charitable Trust, a family foundation established in June 2004 and active since late 2008, supports small UK-registered charities with incomes below £300,000 to bridge their funding gaps and amplify impact. Its core mission focuses on children and young adults facing physical/learning disabilities, social disadvantage, poverty, sickness, education needs, and trauma, prioritizing development, education, training, and well-being for the most marginalized. Guided by values of trust, responsibility, social justice, and robust child safeguarding, the trust employs a low-bureaucracy, high-trust approach, channeling investment returns through quarterly trustee meetings for targeted, catalytic grants to grassroots organizations.

It funds project-specific and unrestricted support for core costs and programs in health, education, poverty relief, disability services, and trauma recovery, with examples including grants to Play It Forward for youth programs, ZOA UK for Zambia education/health initiatives, Restart Foundation (£13,800), and Disability Africa. Beneficiaries span UK and global contexts, but all international work routes through UK partners for accountability.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities (Charity Commission, Companies House, or HMRC-exempt) operating UK-wide or internationally via UK intermediaries, with incomes under £300,000 and strong child protection standards; no religious restrictions apply. Typical grants range £10,000–£25,000 (85%+ for direct beneficiaries), via a two-stage online form on a rolling basis, reviewed quarterly (February, May, August, November; 2025 deadlines: 11 February, 30 August, 9 September), with decisions in up to four months.

Distinctive for balancing UK/international grants, backing overlooked small charities without fundraising or metrics obsession, it avoids large organizations and emphasizes direct, material impact over bureaucracy.