Garfield Weston Guide 2026: Proposal, Budget and Free Template

A charity proposal should make the financial picture easier to understand. What does the charity do, what would this contribution support, and what other money makes the plan possible?

This is independent preparation guidance, not Garfield Weston Foundation's form, an eligibility decision or evidence that an application will succeed.

Download the free proposal planner

Get the editable worksheet (.txt) or open the print-friendly version. No email or sign-up needed. Save it and edit the text or paste it into Word. It provides prompts, not automatic calculations or ready-made claims about your charity.

Choose the correct request

Start with the Foundation's eligibility check and application instructions, checked on 25 October 2026. The instructions distinguish Regular Grants from requests of £100,000 or more, which have separate Major Grant guidance. Check that distinction before drafting.

| Purpose | What to make clear | Confusion to avoid | | --- | --- | --- | | Core or operating support | The organisation's work and financial position | Presenting running costs as a new standalone project | | A defined project | The whole activity, its cost and other funding | Showing only the requested slice of the plan | | Capital work | The asset, delivery and future running costs | Treating purchase or repair as the end of its costs |

These are planning distinctions. Check expenditure and your request against the current guidelines; not every item in an internal budget is necessarily eligible.

Explain the contribution, not just the gap

“We need £20,000” does not explain why that is the right request. Connect the amount to the work and show what is funded, what is being sought and what happens if the remainder is not raised.

The Foundation's application FAQs give different expectations for core, project and capital requests. They say project grants tend to contribute 10–20% of project costs and recommend having around half the project funding secured before applying. These are not promises, fixed entitlements or a reason to inflate a budget. Read the separate advice for core or capital requests where relevant.

A fictional project funding example

Suppose a charity has costed a £100,000 project. This is a planning illustration, not a recommended request or a successful application.

| Income source | Amount | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | Existing grant available for these costs | £40,000 | Confirmed in writing | | Charity contribution approved for the project | £15,000 | Confirmed and available | | Proposed Garfield Weston request | £15,000 | Not awarded | | Other trust applications | £20,000 | Pending | | Local fundraising forecast | £10,000 | Forecast, not secured | | Total planned income | £100,000 | £55,000 confirmed; £45,000 uncertain |

The plan balances, but the charity does not yet have a fully funded project. Keep dates, restrictions and evidence for the £55,000 alongside the table. Set a decision point if the pending £45,000 does not arrive. Do not call the full £100,000 “secured”.

For core support, a project table alone is insufficient. Use the annual budget and explain the financial position consistently with the accounts. For capital work, check permissions, realistic costs and how the completed asset will be operated and maintained.

Gather evidence before polishing the proposal

Choose a few verified examples of what the charity does and what has changed for people. Record the period, source and limits of each figure. Distinguish people reached from repeat attendances; a positive comment is not a measured long-term outcome.

The current application instructions ask for a proposal and accounts or annual return, plus organisational information. Check that those documents and the portal fields describe the same organisation and request. Open the actual files to check dates, legibility and version numbers.

A useful final review

Ask a colleague unfamiliar with the bid to explain the request back to you. Can they name the purpose, contribution sought, other funding and unresolved risks? Fix those points before refining the opening paragraph.

Matt's Garfield Weston writing and review service offers human support. For wider planning, see the charity funding strategy example or all free templates. Your charity remains responsible for accuracy and approval.