Buzzacott Stuart Defries Memorial Fund

The Buzzacott Stuart Defries Memorial Fund (BSDMF) was established in 2003 in posthumous memory of Buzzacott Partner, Stuart Defries.

Am I eligible for funding? 

• Making sure your organisation can apply is the first step and can save a lot of time. We will consider making grants to charities which are: 
• Benefiting young people under the age of 25 
• Supporting organisations based in Greater London experiencing high rates of child poverty and boroughs adjoining the City of London  
• Supporting those in deprived socio-economic areas or communities 
• Concerned with promoting educational opportunities, seeking to prevent homelessness, poverty and destitution, prevention or rehabilitation of youth crime, online safety, and mental health and wellbeing.   

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How can I apply for funding? 

If your organisation meets the above criteria, we’d love to hear from you! You will first be required to complete a pre-application questionnaire on YourCause, our grants management platform. 

You will also be asked to submit your most recent accounts and confirm you have an up-to-date safeguarding policy. If your statutory accounts are not available, you may be asked to provide a copy of your latest management accounts. 

If you are eligible, you will then be required to submit a formal application form which should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.

How will my application be assessed? 

Your application will be assessed by our Trustees to determine whether it is aligned with the fund’s objectives.

Your application will be assessed on: 

• Is your organisation financially stable and do the accounts demonstrate that funds are used efficiently?  If there are significant unspent reserves do the notes to the accounts clearly explain the plan for using those amounts?  Have you provided sufficient justification for the requested grant? 
• Does your project address critical social issues aligned with the fund’s objectives? Have you clearly demonstrated how you will impact beneficiaries?
• Does your project align with the fund’s goals, with clear impact measures defined? Have you demonstrated how your project will tackle a specific issue and have a positive impact on beneficiaries? 
• Does your project operate in a priority location within London boroughs experiencing high rates of child poverty? 

If we have any questions as we review your request, a member of our team will be in touch.

When will I find out if I have been successful? 

The trustees meet quarterly to make funding decisions for grant applications. You can expect to hear back from us within 2 weeks of the most recent meeting. 

What happens after I receive funding?  

We will follow up with grant recipients to ensure that the grant is being used as intended. Depending on the size of the grant, we may require you to complete a report, either once the grant has been spent, or when the project has been completed. 

If this is required of you, we’ll reach out with more details. 

Our policy 

Click here to download our full grant making policy. 

Get in touch

If you have any more questions about your eligibility or applying for a grant, please get in touch via the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.