The Maypole Fund: Money from Women for Women

The Grant

We give grants of up to £750.

Grants from the Maypole Fund have contributed to a wide range of activities. So far, Maypole money has helped with printing leaflets, mounting exhibitions and making videos. We have financially helped women to set up and take part in conferences, workshops and other events. We have enabled groups to buy equipment to resource their projects.

Here are just three very specific examples out of very many:

  • a Maypole grant helped to finance legal costs for women arrested for opposing British arms sales to the Indonesian government to use against East Timor.
  • Maypole funds have been given to organisations in India, Uganda and Britain to empower women in their opposition to domestic violence.
  • Women's libraries in Nicaragua and the UK have been supported by financial assistance from the Maypole Fund.

Deadlines for funding applications are: 31 January and 30 June of each year.

GUIDELINES

Please read these guidelines carefully before applying for a grant.

Your application must be for a project which falls within our AIM/S and fulfil one or more of our CRITERIA. Much as we would wish to support all worthwhile women's projects, our funds and constitution do not permit this. As we receive more applications than we have money to fund, we are especially looking for imaginative, non-violent and politically expressive projects. We welcome applications from women for projects and activities that meet the following aims of The Maypole Fund:

  • Peace initiatives, disarmament and action against the arms trade;
  • Anti-militarism and action against male violence;
  • Nuclear issues;
  • Environmental issues;
  • The promotion of women’s social and political autonomy throughout the world;
  • International, national and/or regional networking between women for the above purposes.

We have chosen the following CRITERIA to help us decide between applications: We prioritise small women’s groups and individual women over larger and more established women’s groups or organisations.

  • We give precedence to projects by individual women or women’s groups over women’s initiatives within mixed groups of women and men;;
  • We prefer specific one-off projects and projects not yet started to projects already started or completed;;
  • We particularly welcome applications from women who do not have access to other sources of money or whose projects find it difficult to attract funding elsewhere.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not make contributions to general funding, and we do not give grants for individual women living in the global North to attend courses/conferences or to travel for personal interest. We can support women's refuges and survivor support groups only where they submit a specific project that clearly aims to counter male violence. We do not fund projects run by both women and men. We are unable to reply to any UK applications without a stamped addressed envelope.

Deadlines for funding applications are: 31 January and 30 June of each year. Out of about 200 received applications for each session, we can fund on average about 10-12.

Please note:

  1. We only contact successful applicants.
  2. If you do not hear from us within 2 months of these dates, your application has been unsuccessful.
  3. If you are awarded a grant, the Maypole Fund expects that you will spend it on the agreed activity, and that within the following six months you will write us a short report showing what you have achieved with the money, and attaching receipts for all expenditure.