Bruce Wake Charity

Bruce Wake Charity, founded and endowed in 1992 by Bruce Wake—a wheelchair user with motor neurone disease—exists to relieve and assist disabled people in the UK by enabling their participation in leisure pursuits otherwise inaccessible due to physical disabilities. Rooted in the founder's lived experience, its mission emphasizes practical inclusion, quality of life enhancement, and barrier-breaking for wheelchair users through tangible interventions like adapted vehicles, sports equipment, accessible infrastructure, and leisure facilities such as boats or playgrounds. Over three decades, it has prioritized high-impact, one-off projects promoting wheelchair-accessible sports, recreation, travel, and community activities, consistently favoring wheelchair users while extending to other physically disabled adults and children.

It funds capital and project grants exclusively for UK-registered charities and community groups delivering leisure opportunities for physically disabled people, with a sharp focus on wheelchair access improvements. No formal income thresholds apply, though small- and medium-sized grassroots organizations are preferred; for-profit entities and individuals are ineligible. Applications were UK-wide, with no regional restrictions across England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

Grants typically range from small amounts up to £5,000 (nearly all under this in 2023/24, with £3,000 max for access projects under £25,000 total budget), awarded quarterly via a two-stage process: online EOI plus financials, then full application (once every 12 months). Core or unrestricted funding is unavailable—only specific, demonstrable leisure enhancements qualify. Uniquely laser-focused on physical disability leisure amid a broad funding landscape, it rejects unrelated causes. Critical note: The charity is winding down for closure; no new applications after 4 April 2025 (5pm deadline for May 2025 consideration).