Highway One Trust

Highway One Trust is an independent UK grant-making charitable trust established in 2016, inspired by Australia's Highway One to support organizations on challenging journeys toward enduring social change. Its mission advances public benefit through targeted grants, occasional advice, and research commissioning, emphasizing long-term impact over quick fixes in underfunded areas. Governed by five unremunerated trustees, it proactively identifies partners via a dedicated researcher, fostering systemic solutions in complex issues like digital well-being, internet safety, and workplace conditions for social media moderators.

The trust funds thematic priorities including disfiguring medical conditions, mental health, prison reform and injustice, poverty alleviation (economic regeneration, homelessness), internet/mobile networks and related social challenges, societal singleness, and Christianity. It supports UK-registered charities primarily—occasionally international ones if aligned—with grants for projects, core costs, research, advocacy, and system change; recipients span small specialist groups to established organizations addressing youth anti-bullying, prisoner rehabilitation, faith initiatives, and policy work, with no strict income thresholds.

Typical grants range from £10,000 to £75,000 (averaging £20,000–£50,000), awarded rolling via trustee discretion without deadlines. Unsolicited applications are discouraged and rarely responded to; aligned charities may email a max-50-word project outline to info@highwayonetrust.com, but only selected ones receive invitations for more details—no postal submissions or forms. Distinctives include rare focus on neglected needs like singleness and disfiguring conditions, blending practical aid with advocacy, and prioritizing newer unmet challenges for lasting transformation.