Road Safety Trust

The Road Safety Trust, an independent UK grant-giving charity established in 2014, is dedicated to reducing deaths and serious injuries on UK roads through funding innovative research, practical interventions, dissemination, and education initiatives. Originating from the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) and funded by surpluses from its trading subsidiary UKROEd, the Trust embodies core values of rigour, partnership, independence, challenge, and knowledge. Its distinctive approach emphasises evidence-based projects that close knowledge gaps, influence policy, and scale effective practices across all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, children, older adults, drivers, and vulnerable groups, with a focus on education (e.g., school programmes, driving cessation aids), engineering (e.g., highway designs), and enforcement (e.g., hazard perception tools).

It supports projects generating intelligence, pilots, evaluations, and advocacy for measurable casualty reductions, prioritising robust methodologies, multi-agency collaboration, dissemination plans, and public benefit, as seen in funded work on cycling near-misses, emergency trauma techniques, and vehicle design adaptations.

Eligible applicants include UK-registered charities, CICs, academic institutions, and community groups based anywhere in the UK, with no income thresholds or religious restrictions; overseas research is rarely funded without clear UK applicability. Individuals and stand-alone core/capital costs are ineligible unless project-tied.

Grants range from £10,000–£50,000 (Small Grants, up to 24 months) to £50,001–£300,000 (Large Grants, up to 3 years). Unsolicited applications follow a two-stage process: Expression of Interest (EOI) then full proposal via online portal. The 2025 Small Grants EOI closes 29 October 2025 (opens 23 September); shortlisting by mid-November, full apps due 12 December, decisions by early 2026. What sets it apart is its laser-focus on road safety innovation, partnership-driven impact, and policy translation, distinguishing it as a catalytic specialist funder.