Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Paul Hamlyn Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK. Our vision is a just society in which everyone, especially young people, can realise their full potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives. Our mission is to be an effective and independent funder, using all our resources to create opportunities and support social change. We partner with inspiring organisations and individuals to make sure that people facing disadvantage are at the heart of leading change and designing solutions to overcome inequality.
Overview
Total reviews: 2
Median 12 hours
Latest Reviews
Apr 9, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
I want to take a moment to acknowledge and deeply appreciate the way [Team Member Name] handled my grant application.
As a working Muslim navigating the third-sector, the process of applying for funding can often feel alienating or misaligned — both practically and culturally. There are a number of unspoken barriers, from language and expectations to how values and working practices are recognised (or not). It can be hard to feel seen.
But [Team Member Name] went above and beyond to change that experience for me.
At every step of the process, they made me feel comfortable, respected and genuinely heard. There communication was clear and kind, and [Team Member Name] created space for nuance in a system that often feels rigid. [Team Member Name] never made me feel like I had to "perform" my legitimacy — something I’ve quietly learned to do in other spaces — but instead affirmed that my work, my context and my way of working had value.
It might seem small, but these things matter. And for people like me — working from the margins, trying to build something meaningful and sustainable — they mean everything.
Thank you, [Team Member Name], for embodying what inclusive, thoughtful grantmaking can look like.
Pros
Culturally sensitive
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
Get [Team Member Name] running interpersonal skills workshops for staff.
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
Hiring [Team Member Name]
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Promote [Team Member Name]
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Sep 5, 2024
applied in 2024
Not fully understanding the criteria before applying probably the reason for rejection
Strong EOI with an innovative combination of youth and outdoors
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Amazing support once given
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
As above
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Average
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Apr 3, 2024
applied in 2024
Do not apply if you're a smaller organisation.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Average
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
fund the arts and arts education
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
support smaller, grassroots organisation. Provide tools to enable them to be funding ready. Further support for black led organisations and those supporting marginalised communities.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Poor
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Feb 12, 2024
applied in 2024
I think i would tell them that unless they are a large organisation funding structural work at a national level - they should not waste their time.
This organisation takes a very long time to respond and seems to have refocused its funding away from individual benefit to people to more "structural" work - without really being clear about that in the guidance.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Poor
There was very long periods of delay with little or no communication.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Poor
There is a large diference between the guidance and the feedback as to how decisions are being made.
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
It does provide large amounts of funding to certain reciepients
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
I think the focus should be on faster turnarounds and a guidance which is clearer on what will not be funded.
At present the guidances seems to raise false hope.
If they only want to fund structural work then they need to say that more clearly.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Poor
Is there anything else that's be useful for others to know to understand this funder?
They are mostly interested in funding larger scale "structural change"
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Jan 23, 2024
applied in 2023
Read everything thoroughly, twice or even three times before committing anything to paper. Make sure that you fully understand what the question is asking for and be sure of how to answer. I felt it was quite difficult to get across how our organisation interacts with the communities we work within, mainly because of the broad range of our audience - any child or family who has a barrier to accessing live performance due to disability, social isolation, or financial constraints.
Pros
Positive leader in the field
Culturally sensitive
Responsive
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2023
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
I felt that the wording of the questions were at times overly complex, which can make it difficult to understand what is being asked for.
I didn't feel the options to describe our organisation were appropriate for us and left me feeling that I hadn't represented our broad and complex audience well enough.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Average
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
That they take the time to offer feedback on the application is good. Not many take the time to do that. Although, the feedback given was pretty generic and probably used over and over for many of the organisations refused funding.
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
The website comes across as very highbrow and complex and, I would say, just a bit over bearing. If it could be made to look and feel a bit more approachable and less daunting that would be a good thing.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Average
If you believe the contents of this review are inappropriate please contact us via email.
Reply from Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Feb 6, 2024
Thank you so much for leaving a review, and we really appreciate your feedback on the application process and our website. We are redesigning our website and reviewing the wording we use to make the application process more accessible, so your feedback is very helpful, and we’ve passed it on to our team.
Apr 9, 2025
Funded for amount requested - applied in 2025
I want to take a moment to acknowledge and deeply appreciate the way [Team Member Name] handled my grant application.
As a working Muslim navigating the third-sector, the process of applying for funding can often feel alienating or misaligned — both practically and culturally. There are a number of unspoken barriers, from language and expectations to how values and working practices are recognised (or not). It can be hard to feel seen.
But [Team Member Name] went above and beyond to change that experience for me.
At every step of the process, they made me feel comfortable, respected and genuinely heard. There communication was clear and kind, and [Team Member Name] created space for nuance in a system that often feels rigid. [Team Member Name] never made me feel like I had to "perform" my legitimacy — something I’ve quietly learned to do in other spaces — but instead affirmed that my work, my context and my way of working had value.
It might seem small, but these things matter. And for people like me — working from the margins, trying to build something meaningful and sustainable — they mean everything.
Thank you, [Team Member Name], for embodying what inclusive, thoughtful grantmaking can look like.
Pros
Culturally sensitive
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
Get [Team Member Name] running interpersonal skills workshops for staff.
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
Hiring [Team Member Name]
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
Promote [Team Member Name]
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Excellent
Sep 5, 2024
applied in 2024
Not fully understanding the criteria before applying probably the reason for rejection
Strong EOI with an innovative combination of youth and outdoors
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Excellent
Amazing support once given
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
As above
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Average
Apr 3, 2024
applied in 2024
Do not apply if you're a smaller organisation.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Average
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
fund the arts and arts education
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
support smaller, grassroots organisation. Provide tools to enable them to be funding ready. Further support for black led organisations and those supporting marginalised communities.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Poor
Feb 12, 2024
applied in 2024
I think i would tell them that unless they are a large organisation funding structural work at a national level - they should not waste their time.
This organisation takes a very long time to respond and seems to have refocused its funding away from individual benefit to people to more "structural" work - without really being clear about that in the guidance.
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2024
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Poor
There was very long periods of delay with little or no communication.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Poor
There is a large diference between the guidance and the feedback as to how decisions are being made.
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
It does provide large amounts of funding to certain reciepients
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
I think the focus should be on faster turnarounds and a guidance which is clearer on what will not be funded. At present the guidances seems to raise false hope. If they only want to fund structural work then they need to say that more clearly.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Poor
Is there anything else that's be useful for others to know to understand this funder?
They are mostly interested in funding larger scale "structural change"
Jan 23, 2024
applied in 2023
Read everything thoroughly, twice or even three times before committing anything to paper. Make sure that you fully understand what the question is asking for and be sure of how to answer. I felt it was quite difficult to get across how our organisation interacts with the communities we work within, mainly because of the broad range of our audience - any child or family who has a barrier to accessing live performance due to disability, social isolation, or financial constraints.
Pros
Positive leader in the field
Culturally sensitive
Responsive
Cons
Pros
Cons
What is your relationship with the funder for this experience?
Applied and not funded
If you were funded tell us the outcome
What year was this experience?
2023
How would you rate this funder's accessibility?
Average
I felt that the wording of the questions were at times overly complex, which can make it difficult to understand what is being asked for. I didn't feel the options to describe our organisation were appropriate for us and left me feeling that I hadn't represented our broad and complex audience well enough.
How successfully do you think this funder is accomplishing its goals as a funder?
Average
Tell us one thing that this funder does really well
That they take the time to offer feedback on the application is good. Not many take the time to do that. Although, the feedback given was pretty generic and probably used over and over for many of the organisations refused funding.
If you had one piece of advice to give to this funder (about grantmaking or anything else), what would it be?
The website comes across as very highbrow and complex and, I would say, just a bit over bearing. If it could be made to look and feel a bit more approachable and less daunting that would be a good thing.
How was your relationship overall with the funder?
Average
Reply from Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Feb 6, 2024
Thank you so much for leaving a review, and we really appreciate your feedback on the application process and our website. We are redesigning our website and reviewing the wording we use to make the application process more accessible, so your feedback is very helpful, and we’ve passed it on to our team.