What Barnwood Trust does

Barnwood Trust is a registered charitable trust (Charity Commission numbers 218401 and 1162855) headquartered in Cheltenham, United Kingdom, that focuses exclusively on disability and mental health in the county of Gloucestershire. Its operational base is Overton House, an accessible building on Overton Road in Cheltenham, and the organisation employs between 11 and 50 staff. The Trust operates a hybrid portfolio of grant programmes, community development work, applied research, and convening activity: it runs Grants for Individuals and Grants for Groups and Organisations (including the Short Breaks Fund and Small Sparks); the Barnwood Circle membership network of people with lived experience who inform its priorities; and a research programme that has produced multiple reports such as Our Changing World, Building Community Capacity and Resilience, Resourcing Resilient Gloucestershire, and the VCS Covid-19 Research series. There is no core technology platform; services are delivered through direct human engagement, partnerships, and grant administration.

The Trust's most significant recent strategic action is the £2.5M two-year Short Breaks Partnership, launched in November 2024 with Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance to redesign inclusive short breaks for disabled children and young people, running until April 2027. An additional £1.2M of Barnwood Trust funding was extended to six county-wide Short Breaks projects, with £575,332 deployed in year one to reach 1,322 children across 570 sessions, 66% of whom had never accessed such provision before. The Trust also maintains long-running collaborations with Gloucestershire Constabulary, Gloucester City Council, and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner formed in 2016 around asset- and strengths-based community development.

Barnwood Trust is funded through its endowment and investment activities rather than external equity or commercial sales, and no revenue is publicly disclosed. It holds Living Wage Employer accreditation and is regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, with all activity confined to a single-country, single-county geographic footprint.

Name

Barnwood Trust

Legal name

Barnwood House Trust

Website

https://barnwoodtrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Barnwood Trust is a Gloucestershire-based registered charity that funds, researches, and convenes work on disability and mental health through grants, the Barnwood Circle lived-experience network, and partnerships with local authorities and VCS organisations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability and Mental Health Charitable Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)

Keywords

• Disability charity services
• Mental health grants
• Voluntary sector funding
• Community research programmes
• Disability inclusion support

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheltenham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Others, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Barnwood Trust is a registered charity that distributes grants to disabled individuals and people with mental health conditions in Gloucestershire, and to voluntary and community sector organisations working in the county. It also runs the Barnwood Circle membership network, delivers the Short Breaks Partnership programme, and conducts and publishes research on disability, community resilience, and the voluntary sector.

Product overview

Barnwood Trust is a registered charity (number 1162855) focused on building belonging in Gloucestershire for disabled people and people with mental health challenges. The organisation operates as a unified charitable trust offering grant funding programmes (grants for individuals and groups), a research programme documenting community needs and pandemic impacts, the Barnwood Circle membership network for community engagement, and the Short Breaks Partnership programme. These services are integrated through the Trust's change work aimed at influencing disability and mental health conditions across the county.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Barnwood Circle: A network of people who inform and guide Barnwood Trust's work to fund and influence change in Gloucestershire for disability and mental health issues.

Products and services

• Grants for Individuals

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,322 children accessed Short Breaks provision in first year of partnership
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gloucestershire Children's ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024A two-year partnership (until April 2027) focused on enhancing inclusive short breaks for families of disabled children and young people. This partnership explores innovative ways of offering short breaks and complements the council's existing county-wide offer.
• Gloucestershire VCSE AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024Partnership to explore innovative ways of providing short breaks for disabled children and young people. The Alliance represents voluntary and community sector organisations in the county.
• Gloucestershire County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024Strategic partner in the Short Breaks Partnership, working with Barnwood Trust and Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance to co-fund and design improved short break services.
• Gloucestershire ConstabularycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration began in 2016 to promote asset- and strengths-based approaches. Worked together on community building initiatives and research to capture impact on professionals and local residents.
• Gloucester City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership formed in 2016 to work together to empower citizens to make Gloucestershire a great place to live, focusing on asset-based community development.
• Office of the Police and Crime CommissionercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration formed in 2016 as part of partnership to promote asset- and strengths-based approaches and community building in Gloucestershire.
• Collaborate CICminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIndependent evaluators commissioned to deliver evaluation of the Short Breaks Partnership programme, capturing learning and outcomes.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Mencap: UK charity working with people with learning disabilities. Comparable given Barnwood's disability focus, though Mencap is a national direct-service provider rather than a local grant-making trust.
• Comic Relief: Major UK grant-making charity funding projects addressing poverty and social injustice. Comparable as a UK grant-giving funder with a community focus, but operating nationally and at much greater scale.
• The National Lottery Community Fund: The largest community funder in the UK, distributing Lottery funds to community projects nationwide. Comparable as a grant-maker funding community-led organisations, but operating at vastly larger scale and with broader remit than Barnwood's local focus.
• Mind: Leading UK mental health charity providing advice, support, and campaigning. Comparable as a mental-health-focused organisation, though Mind operates at national scale with direct service delivery rather than local grant-making.

Regional players

• Sense: UK disability charity supporting people with complex disabilities. Comparable given Barnwood's disability remit, though Sense delivers direct services nationally rather than operating as a regional grant-making trust.

Direct peers

• The Tudor Trust: UK independent grant-making foundation providing unrestricted and flexible funding to small charities and community-led organisations. Highly comparable in operating model (endowment-funded, community-focused, grant programmes) and beneficiary emphasis on marginalised groups.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation: UK charity partnering with small and local charities working to tackle complex social issues including disability and mental health. Closely comparable in focus areas (disability, mental health) and grant-giving model to small/community charities.
• Locality: UK membership organisation supporting community-led organisations, with a focus on asset-based community development — directly aligned with Barnwood's approach to building community capacity and resilience in Gloucestershire.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Major UK grant-making foundation focused on social justice, education, and the arts. Shares an endowment-funded, grant-giving operating model with emphasis on systemic change and partnership-based working with disadvantaged communities.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: One of the largest UK independent grant-makers, funding social change, the arts, and the natural environment. Comparable as a fellow endowed UK foundation with a research-driven approach and multi-year strategic partnerships with charities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BarnwoodTrust
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkgtvFCJWlWQg1sUEeFMUkQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/BarnwoodTrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/barnwood-trust
• Instagraminstagram.com/barnwoodtrust

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barnwood Trust