We know that solutions to the difficulties people face are seldom straightforward or immediate. We are therefore interested in encouraging people to use their own skills and abilities as a resource for change; to find new ways of tackling deep-rooted problems or to cope with and move on from difficult situations. We recognise that this may take time so, if appropriate, we can commit funding over a sustained period.

As an independent grant maker, an important part of our role is to support work which is untried, which has uncertain outcomes and which may be difficult to fund. However, we are not preoccupied with innovation and understand that there is a place for well-founded, practical work which seeks to bring normality and wellbeing into difficult places and situations.

We are most interested in helping smaller, under-resourced organisations which offer direct services and which involve the people they work with in their planning. The groups we fund don’t have to be registered charities; we can also make grants to other groups as long as they can show us how they would use our grant for charitable purposes.

We want to fund effective people who work to high standards. We recognise that their organisations are best placed to know what the problems are and what to do about them. We trust these groups to go ahead and do the work that is needed, and want to give them the opportunity and practical tools to do so. We want to respond to ideas and energy. We don’t have specific funding programmes designed to advance a particular agenda. Instead, we try to support work which is clearly needed and for which funding from Tudor can make all the difference.

Tudor aims to be a helpful and flexible funder and we want to respond imaginatively to organisations’ real concerns and priorities. Organisations dealing with complex issues are seldom themselves straightforward and so we hope to engage with the groups we support in a variety of ways, offering grants, loans, advice and development support. There is no maximum or minimum grant amount. Grants can take the form of core funding (including salaries and running costs), development funding, project grants or capital grants for buildings or equipment. As we want to fund work which engages with the reality and complexity of people and their problems, we look to support organisations working across sectors and boundaries (whether actual or perceived).

We usually make grants over one, two or three years but may work alongside organisations for a longer period. However as we are keen to support a range of organisations, including those which are new to us, our funding cannot continue indefinitely.

We want to offer high levels of support and engagement when this will be helpful and appropriate. Our two-stage application process gives us more time to focus on working creatively with applicants who reach the second stage. Through constructive dialogue and increased understanding we hope to give applicants the opportunity to think about their options and develop proposals which focus on the real needs of their organisations, and the people they are working with.