Shepherdsmead Trust

The Shepherdsmead Trust, established as an unincorporated trust by deed in 1982 (amended in 2014 and registered with the Charity Commission in 2015), is a faith-based charity dedicated to providing and maintaining gospel halls for Christian worship and religious assembly. Governed by trustees drawn from its regular congregation in Godalming, Surrey, the trust embodies Christian values of faith, service, and stewardship, serving the general public by fostering spaces for spiritual activities, community gathering, and religious education rather than broader charitable programs.

It exclusively funds the provision, maintenance, refurbishment, and improvement of gospel halls used for Christian purposes, including property renovations, capital expenditures, and ongoing upkeep. Beneficiaries are limited to congregations and the public accessing these facilities, often in collaboration with closely allied local trusts like Eastbrook Trust or Farnham Gospel Hall Trust within its faith network. Thematic priorities center on advancing Christianity through infrastructure stewardship, with no support for external projects, programs, or unrelated causes.

Eligibility is highly restrictive: funding is available only for the trust's own facilities or longstanding partners in Surrey (primarily Godalming), with a Christian-only religious restriction; it does not accept unsolicited applications from external charities, regardless of size, income, or location, and has no specified entity types or income thresholds. Grants are decided internally on an ad hoc basis by trustees, with no published deadlines, application process, or open rounds—typical expenditures exceed £1 million annually (e.g., £1.13 million in 2023/24) for large-scale institutional projects. Distinctively, it operates as a specialized steward of worship spaces rather than a generalist funder, making it uniquely suited for aligned faith-based hall maintenance but inaccessible to wider applicants.