Mickleham Trust

The Mickleham Trust, established under a trust deed in June 1995 and based in Norwich, is a grant-making charity focused on relieving abuse and disadvantage, with a longstanding priority for supporting young people and those who are blind or partially sighted. Guided by public benefit principles and prudent endowment management—including ethical investments—its mission has been to deliver welfare indirectly through UK-registered charities, fostering responsive, impactful support for vulnerable groups via well-governed, institutional grants rather than direct individual aid.

Historically, the trust funded projects addressing medical needs, disability, youth hardship, dementia care, and sight loss, including capacity building, core costs, and targeted interventions like dementia workers at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, Vision Norfolk, Versus Arthritis, and youth-focused organisations such as Whirlow Hall Farm Trust. Grants supported charities nationwide, with some emphasis on Norfolk and East Anglia, prioritising concrete welfare for abused, disadvantaged children, young people, and the visually impaired.

Eligible applicants were exclusively UK-registered charities of varying sizes operating UK-wide, but the trust now accepts only existing long-term partners. It ceased general grant-making and is winding up by March 2024, distributing final funds as directed gifts without new applications, deadlines, or processes—past grants varied from small to substantial awards.

Distinctively, the trust avoided direct individual support, statutory bodies, or non-charities, emphasising sustained relief for its core beneficiaries through diversified investments and trustee oversight, making it a niche funder now closed to unsolicited proposals.