Wates Family Enterprise Trust
The Wates Family Enterprise Trust is an independent charity set up by the Wates family, the owners of the Wates Group. Launched in 2008, the Trust is integral to the Wates family’s approach of being responsible business owners and its vision of being a force for good. The Trust’s mission is focused on building communities and improving lives beyond tomorrow. All the proposals for awards come from the Wates Family and Employees, as a result we are unable to accept unsolicited applications for funding.
Overview
Total reviews: 3
Median 40 hours
Latest Reviews
Mar 6, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
This is a funder who shares knowledge and encourages charities and organisations to join their network, they welcome you to workshops and exploration of the topics relevant to your project. They also support you during the application process and are happy to talk if your ideas are still at an early stage.
Pros
Positive leader in the field
Gives more than money
Insightful
Friendly
Builds relationships
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Grant currently pending
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
This funder encourages development of ideas and key themes within their area of interest. They want a movement to form and for lots of people to benefit from shared thinking and approaches.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am happy to hear this was a quick, supported and positive experience for you.
Mar 6, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
Wates Family Enterprise Trust have been a pleasure to deal with. They provided helpful and timely advice to help us shape our grant application. The process was relatively simple and the information required was sensible and proportionate to the size of the grant.
Pros
Friendly
Builds relationships
Openminded
Responsive
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
Uses its convening power as a funder to bring people together across the sector.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to review and share your experience of applying to the Trust. We note that you state it took a long time to complete all information required by us. This is not our intention and we will review these requirements.
Feb 25, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2024
I would recommend to approach the funder. We begun with an informal conversation about our organisation, the ways in which our work aligns with their aims. Since it's not an open application process, this initial relationship is important. Having established the basic suitability - the funder were extremely supportive in working with us to shape a viable project and application. The process, and the information required, due dilligence about the organisation, was pretty detailed - but again, we were well supported in getting that together.
Pros
Insightful
Friendly
Builds relationships
Understands nonprofits and issues
Responsive
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
The guidelines were easily understood and we had a clear and supportive contact from the throughout to clarify where necessary.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
Working closely with and building a meaningful relationship with the organisations they fund.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to review. It is always helpful for us to hear how our processes work. 40 hours is longer than we would have hoped it would have taken for you to apply and we will review this later in the year if it becomes a common experience.
Feb 17, 2025
Other - applied in 2025
Grants team are open to giving advice and feedback on the application and are very helpful. Grants team appreciate a relational approach to fundraising. Application form is fiddly and some of the multiple choice sections may not be directly applicable to your project. The character counter on the application form questions does not match Microsoft word, so more time needs to be spent editing to ensure your answers fit.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Grant currently pending
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Other
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
Grants team are easily accessible and approachable (we are a long-term partner so that might make a difference) . The application guidance was straight forward and easy to understand, but the online form is a bit fiddly and takes longer than expected to fill out.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
The relational approach of the grants team and the advice/guidance they offer is hugely appreciated, especially because it is increasingly difficult to speak with or build relationships with foundations.
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Replace the character/word counts in the application form with something that still encourages applicants to be brief, but isn't as restrictive or time consuming.
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Feb 19, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to reply. You have raised some valuable points - one of which we have been grappling with for a while. We appreciate your sharing your experience and we will incorporate this into our process reviews.
Feb 14, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2024
You will need to take time to understand the funder and their aspirations, build relationships with them and understand what they are looking to fund.
Pros
Friendly
Builds relationships
Likes site visits
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
They now have a person in place who is dedicated to this and keen to engage with applicants to help shape the application.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
They can get the grantee to develop a project that meets their needs and aspirations
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
They engage and come out and visit prior to award to build relationships and talk about the types of things that they will fund
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Think about proportionality for the charity that you are working with. How much time does the charity need to put in to building the relationship and co-designing the project before getting awarded the funding? Is there a way that the charity can put in an application that meets the needs of their organisation and community with less intervention from WFET?
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Is there anything else that's be useful for others to know to understand this funder?
Not a normal funder. They like to co-develop projects with the grantee. This can be very time consuming. The application process was also rigid with a fairly lengthy online form, considering the amount of funding that is available.
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Feb 19, 2025
We appreciate the time you have taken to share your thoughts and experience which will be shared with the wider team and feed into our regular process review. You have raised some important points which we will take time to consider. thank you
Mar 6, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
This is a funder who shares knowledge and encourages charities and organisations to join their network, they welcome you to workshops and exploration of the topics relevant to your project. They also support you during the application process and are happy to talk if your ideas are still at an early stage.
Pros
Positive leader in the field
Gives more than money
Insightful
Friendly
Builds relationships
Cons
Pros
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Grant currently pending
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
This funder encourages development of ideas and key themes within their area of interest. They want a movement to form and for lots of people to benefit from shared thinking and approaches.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am happy to hear this was a quick, supported and positive experience for you.
Mar 6, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
Wates Family Enterprise Trust have been a pleasure to deal with. They provided helpful and timely advice to help us shape our grant application. The process was relatively simple and the information required was sensible and proportionate to the size of the grant.
Pros
Friendly
Builds relationships
Openminded
Responsive
Cons
Pros
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
Uses its convening power as a funder to bring people together across the sector.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to review and share your experience of applying to the Trust. We note that you state it took a long time to complete all information required by us. This is not our intention and we will review these requirements.
Feb 25, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2024
I would recommend to approach the funder. We begun with an informal conversation about our organisation, the ways in which our work aligns with their aims. Since it's not an open application process, this initial relationship is important. Having established the basic suitability - the funder were extremely supportive in working with us to shape a viable project and application. The process, and the information required, due dilligence about the organisation, was pretty detailed - but again, we were well supported in getting that together.
Pros
Insightful
Friendly
Builds relationships
Understands nonprofits and issues
Responsive
Cons
Pros
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
The guidelines were easily understood and we had a clear and supportive contact from the throughout to clarify where necessary.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
Working closely with and building a meaningful relationship with the organisations they fund.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Apr 4, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to review. It is always helpful for us to hear how our processes work. 40 hours is longer than we would have hoped it would have taken for you to apply and we will review this later in the year if it becomes a common experience.
Feb 17, 2025
Other - applied in 2025
Grants team are open to giving advice and feedback on the application and are very helpful. Grants team appreciate a relational approach to fundraising. Application form is fiddly and some of the multiple choice sections may not be directly applicable to your project. The character counter on the application form questions does not match Microsoft word, so more time needs to be spent editing to ensure your answers fit.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Grant currently pending
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Other
What year was this experience?
2025
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
Grants team are easily accessible and approachable (we are a long-term partner so that might make a difference) . The application guidance was straight forward and easy to understand, but the online form is a bit fiddly and takes longer than expected to fill out.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
The relational approach of the grants team and the advice/guidance they offer is hugely appreciated, especially because it is increasingly difficult to speak with or build relationships with foundations.
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Replace the character/word counts in the application form with something that still encourages applicants to be brief, but isn't as restrictive or time consuming.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Feb 19, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to reply. You have raised some valuable points - one of which we have been grappling with for a while. We appreciate your sharing your experience and we will incorporate this into our process reviews.
Feb 14, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2024
You will need to take time to understand the funder and their aspirations, build relationships with them and understand what they are looking to fund.
Pros
Friendly
Builds relationships
Likes site visits
Cons
Pros
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Current or former grantee
If you were funded tell us the outcome
Funded for amount requested
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Excellent
They now have a person in place who is dedicated to this and keen to engage with applicants to help shape the application.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
They can get the grantee to develop a project that meets their needs and aspirations
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
They engage and come out and visit prior to award to build relationships and talk about the types of things that they will fund
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Think about proportionality for the charity that you are working with. How much time does the charity need to put in to building the relationship and co-designing the project before getting awarded the funding? Is there a way that the charity can put in an application that meets the needs of their organisation and community with less intervention from WFET?
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Is there anything else that's be useful for others to know to understand this funder?
Not a normal funder. They like to co-develop projects with the grantee. This can be very time consuming. The application process was also rigid with a fairly lengthy online form, considering the amount of funding that is available.
Reply from Felicity Mallam
Feb 19, 2025
We appreciate the time you have taken to share your thoughts and experience which will be shared with the wider team and feed into our regular process review. You have raised some important points which we will take time to consider. thank you