SCF Takes on historic Taunton educational trust

Bishop Fox’s Educational Foundation provides grants to help young people from the historic district of Taunton Deane to achieve their goals, as well as providing capital grants to local schools. The Trust awards funding of over £150,000 every year, enriching many young lives.  

The Trustees approached SCF in 2023 to ask if we would be willing to take on management of the Trust’s grant making. We worked closely with the Trust’s Chair to understand the various funding programmes and the Trust’s processes and facilitated a seamless handover from its previous administrator. We were able to make and quickly action several recommendations to make their processes more efficient and the application process more user-friendly and transparent. 

We’ve also decreased the amount of administration involved for Trustees in reviewing applications and approving grants. We did this by implementing processes where our expert team carry out full reviews of all applications and provide a summary report including award recommendations for each Board meeting, rather than the Trustees having to do this work themselves.  

Jane Barrie, Chair of Bishop Fox’s Educational Foundation, said of SCF’s services: “We were very grateful to SCF for taking on the administration of the BFEF Trust from 1 April 2023. The transfer from our previous administrators was made as smooth as possible and SCF have now improved all our processes both with the grant applications and governance. Our Programme Manager at SCF who administers the Trust fully understands our needs and has made life so much easier for the Trustees while at the same time improving our due diligence. Our grant making has grown over the years and it’s good to know that we now have a streamlined service both for Trustees and those applying for grants.”