Charles Plater Trust awards most grants ever

2025 large and small grant recipients at the Cornerstone, Cardiff. Image Kieran O'Brien

Source: Charles Plater Trust

The Charles Plater Trust (CPT) has awarded its most grants ever, with 31 new charity partnerships announced.

CPT announced 31 new charity partnerships on Tuesday 24 June, awarding grants totalling £451, 202 during its annual Awards Celebration held at the Cornerstone Centre, and Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David, in Cardiff. The event, hosted by CPT trustees, including Bishop Richard Moth, saw 20 large grants and 11small grants awarded to a range of innovative charities working to build social justice in England and Wales.

CPT has awarded more than £4.5 million to 170 UK charities to date. Bishop Richard, in explaining the funding allocations this year said: "With the election of a new missionary focused Pope committed to a renewal of Catholic Social Teaching, we felt inspired as trustees to be outward focused. We wanted to reach out far and wide. To find partners passionate about standing in solidarity with the poor in the UK today, to help heal the deep divisions that exist in our society."

Philippa Gitlin, chair of CPT's Grant Making Committee added: "The trustees were impressed with the very high quality of applications we received. Among them, we have been able to fund six innovative applied social research projects to find new policy solutions. Whether this is piloting a neuroinclusive prison regime on a single wing in two prisons, HMP Belmarsh and HMP Isis to improve rehabilitation, or collecting evidence to amplify care leavers' voices in shaping services, we are determined to make a positive difference for the common good."

Bristol based charity, One25 was awarded a large grant of over £20,000 to support women who are street sex-working in Bristol. A representative from the charity said: "The women we work with experience severe and multiple disadvantages with 94% experiencing chronic mental ill-health. This grant will help fund our Mental Health Caseworker over the next two years to ensure that women receive the support that they urgently need."

The Prison Radio Association was also awarded a large grant of £20,000 and said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work alongside the Charles Plater Trust for the next two years. With their support, we will be able to continue using the power of radio to offer hope and opportunity to marginalised women housed at HMPYOI Styal. Through the provision of training, mentoring and practical experience in radio production and presenting, we will support women to make the most of their time inside while building pathways into better, brighter futures on release."

For the first time, an award was also given to The Tablet, to set up a "Charles Plater Trust Internship" under the lay leadership funding priority.

Amanda Davison-Young, CEO of The Tablet Publishing Company said: "Funding a Tablet intern means investing in the next generation of thoughtful, ethical journalism-rooted in Catholic Social Teaching and dedicated to informing, inspiring, and serving the common good."

The Charles Plater Trust is a Catholic grant-making charity established in 2006 to continue the work of Fr Charles Plater in developing social justice through education. For more information see: www.plater.org.uk.

2025 Grant Awards:

1. Prison Reform Trust, London | £18,000

Neuroinclusive Prison Regime Pilot

CPT's Grant will contribute to an innovative research project to pilot a

neuroinclusive prison regime on a single wing in two prisons, HMP Belmarsh

and HMP Isis (a Young Offenders Institution).

2. Lyn's House, Cambridge | £20,000

'Growing in Friendship': Researching & Widening the impact of Mixed- Ability Communities of Friendship for Faith, Human Community & Social Change

CPT's Grant will contribute to the project leader post of this applied 5 year action research project, researching the key characteristics of Lyn's House, a Christian community of friendship for people with and without intellectual disabilities.

3. Pure Insight, Salford | £25,000

Building Hope: Mentoring Marginalised Care Experienced Young People in Salford

Our grant will help fund a community-based mentoring program providing intensive support to about 80 Salford care leavers and evidence collected will help Pure Insight to advocate nationally and amplify care leavers' voices, shaping services for others.

4. St Mary's University, London | £2,000

Rerum Novarum & Contemporary Issues Relating to the World of Work CPT's Grant will produce and disseminate conference research papers on the dignity of work after the recent anniversary of the Catholic Social Teaching encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' (Pope Leo XIII, 1891).

5. University of Portsmouth Higher Education Corporation | £19,048

The Co-production of Guidance for Working with the Dynamics of Punishment & Forgiveness in Relational & Restorative Practices (RRP) in Schools

This research project will engage in critical reflection on the implementation of creative policies and practices in schools and new approaches to pupil inclusion and exclusion using RRP.

6. MYTIME Young Carers, South West | £18,665

The MYTIME Level Up Programme and its offshoot, The Level Up Academy PT funding will help enable partnership with 60 new schools, equipping schools with the understanding, tools and strategies they need to offer the best academic and emotional support to young caregivers and gather evidence to support systemic reform for UK-wide recognition and support.

7. The Tablet Trust, London | £28,237

The Charles Plater Internship

CPT's grant will fund a 12-month internship program at The Tablet, offering a young aspiring Catholic journalist professional training in CST based journalism.

8. Bible Reading Fellowship | £30,000

Anna Chaplaincy - Spiritual Care in Later Life.
CPT's grant will help train lay leaders to provide vital social contact for older people, helping to reduce loneliness and isolation.

9. The Women's Liberation Collective | £13,500

Girls' Course

CPT's grant will help train practitioners to pilot courses with girls (aged 14- 25) who have been subjected to abuse by a male partner.

10. The Mizen Foundation, London & South East | £5,000

Talks for Change

Honouring the legacy of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen, who was murdered in an unprovoked attack, CPT's grant will help expand the crucial work of reaching young people and communities through inspiring talks to explore the consequences of anger and understand how forgiveness can create stronger safer communities.

11. The Porch, Oxford | £16,350

The Moving Forward's Programme

CPT's funding will tackle homelessness by trying to break repeated cycles of vulnerability by making one-to-one support available to any of the 570 homeless and vulnerably housed people who access the centre.

12. The Choir With No Name, Cardiff | £20,000

Weekly Choir Rehearsals & Live Performances

CPT's grant will enable the Cardiff Choir to provide a safe space where 100 people impacted by homelessness can find a supportive community, grow in confidence, learn new skills and build the resilience needed to tackle the challenges they face.

13. Our Lady & St Helen SVP, Southend | £5,000

The Pioneer's Programme - Rebuilding Lives Together

Grant funding from CPT will help roll out the Pioneer's Programme which trains people with lived experiences of addiction, recovery and homelessness to offer a mutual-support programme for addiction recovery, based on cognitive-behavioural principles.

14. The Faith Hope & Enterprise Company Derbyshire | £15,000

Homeless Support Worker Project

CPT's grant will increase the charity's capacity to respond to increased demand for their services and to residents who also are needing more intensive support.

15. Spitalfields Crypt Trust, London | £18,676

Embedding Co-Production in SCT's Training & Development Programme to Empower People in Recovery By embedding co-production across the charity's training & development programmes, this project will empower homeless users to shape services, improve engagement, recovery outcomes, and their long-term independence.

16. Vineyard Community & Richmond Foodbank, London | £15,000

Vineyard Hope & Help for Vulnerable & Homeless Families & Individuals.

CPT's grant will contribute to the 'Help & Hope Crisis Support Centre', an all-in-one open-access service providing compassionate, individual-centred support, to transform the lives of families and individuals experiencing multiple, complex disadvantages.

17. Urban Promise UK, London | £5,000

Urban Promise Student Leaders

CPT's grant will provide mentoring, training, and work placements for young people in Barking and Dagenham in London so they can break through barriers to opportunity and success.

18. Debate Mate, London, North West, South Wales & West Midlands | £24,752

Employability Skills Teaching for Disadvantaged Students in 6 Schools around the UK

CPT's grant will enable Debate Mate to combat social immobility and a lack of employability skills amongst disadvantaged young people aged 9- 18 living in areas of high child poverty through delivering after-school debate clubs.

19. Endure Mentoring, London | £5,000

Future Foundations - Youth Skills Building Initiative

CPT's grant will equip young people with hands-on, practical accredited qualifications in construction, boosting confidence and creating pathways to sustainable employment while transforming a charity café into a valuable community resource.

20. Kids Festival, London | £5,000

Our Healthy Community Food Project

CPT funding will support a targeted project for low income, vulnerable families who live in food poverty and are struggling to meet children's essential needs in Greenwich, London.

21. TLC Foundation, Warwickshire | £3,480

Parental Transitional Support Group

Our grant will help provide holistic support & advocacy for the family unit that surrounds children & young people with severe & complex learning difficulties, by providing fun & inclusive activities that empower disabled children to achieve their full potential & reduce family isolation.

22. One25, Bristol | £20,691

One25 Mental Health Caseworker: One-to-One, Intensive Support for Women who are Street Sex-Working in Bristol and Experiencing Mental ill-Health

One25 is the only organisation in Bristol specifically supporting women who do street sex work. The CPT grant will part fund the One25's mental health caseworker who directly supports women to access mental health services.

23. St Germain's Wellbeing, Birmingham | £5,000

One-to-One Guided Self-Help Sessions

Our grant will enable St Germain's Wellbeing to offer free emotional support to adults experiencing mental health challenges, empowering them to navigate daily life with resilience.

24. The Cellar Trust, Yorkshire | £24,735

HOPE: Hold On, Pain Ends - Enhancing Support for People Experiencing Mental Health & Substance Dependency Crises Grant funding from the CPT will help pilot a new Dual-Diagnosis Peer Support Worker. With lived experience of mental ill-health, they will provide 1-to-1 peer support to 100 people experiencing combined mental health & substance dependency crises. Across 12 weeks of intensive support, they will educate & equip people with skills & resilience to manage & prevent future crises.

25. Yellow Submarine, South East | £10,000

Life Changing Workplace Training, Life Skills & Personal Development for Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism. Just 9.3% of learning disabled adults in Oxfordshire are in paid employment. Our grant will support Yellow Submarine's three life skills and employability projects - Reach; Stride and Traineeships - to change that statistic for 75 young disabled people.

26. Caritas Diocese of Hallam, Sheffield | £24,500

Carmel Care Centre - The Light Project

CPT's grant will extend support to survivors of domestic abuse by funding 700 sessions of counselling support for women on their recovery journey.

27. Ella's, London | £18,568

Resettlement Caseworker Support; Empowering Women Survivors of Trafficking & Exploitation

The CPT grant will part fund a Resettlement Caseworker whose role is responsible for giving survivors tailored one to one support through their transition from the charity's more intensive outreach service, into the Community and Resettlement service.

28. Welcome Group, Halesowen Birmingham | £5,000

Welcome Group Halesowen Supporting Refugees & Asylum Seekers

The CPT grant will fund a Drop-in Centre and support group at Lifecentral Church for refugees and asylum seekers providing practical help like baby supplies and essential household items.

29. Dovetail Orchestra, Bristol | £5,000

Celebrating Cultural Diversity by Encouraging Migrants to Share their own Musical Traditions. Grant funding from CPT will support this innovative and welcoming educational community project which supports refugees and asylum- seekers from all faiths and backgrounds to engage with the local community and work together to create and perform new versions of world music.

30. Through Unity, London | £5,000

Family Days & Family Support for Families Bereaved through Homicide

A CPT grant for families and individuals affected by homicide who come together to provide mutual support and comfort as they journey through grief and trauma together.

31. Prison Radio Association, London | £20,000

Radio Production Training for Women at HMP Styal

The CPT grant will help support over 100 women housed at HMPYOI Styal to build better futures beyond bars, through the provision of training, mentoring and practical experience in radio production and presenting.