Saint Martin'S Trust
Charity 221040
Overview
Summary
Saint Martin'S Trust appears to be a focused support mechanism within Birmingham's Anglican ecosystem rather than a general-purpose community charity. Its role is defined by strengthening the practical security of parish clergy and church institutions, principally through grants and property- or endowment-related assistance. The available evidence suggests a geographically bounded, clergy-centred organisation whose value may lie in sustaining the local infrastructure that enables Anglican parish life to continue.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
City Centre
Confidence: medium
Direct evidence shows current grants to St Martin; official Church of England Birmingham material identifies St Martin as being in the Bull Ring. This supports an operational presence in the City Centre, although the Trust is principally a grant-maker and property owner rather than a public-facing service provider there.
- Saint Martin's Trust annual report and financial statements, year ended 31 December 2024
The Trust made 2024 stipend and ministerial-support payments to St Martin, and reported owning investment properties. - Church of England Birmingham, 'Church Demonstrator Project Paves the Path to Net Zero', 3 March 2025
The Diocese identifies St Martin as 'St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham'.
Ladywood
Confidence: high
The Trust's current audited accounts explicitly record both stipend and ministerial-support payments to St John and St Peter, Ladywood.
- Saint Martin's Trust annual report and financial statements, year ended 31 December 2024
The accounts list 2024 contributions to stipend-related costs and ministerial support for 'St John and St Peter, Ladywood'. - Church of England Birmingham Diocesan Synod minutes, 18 November 2023
The Diocese records the appointment of a Vicar of 'St John & St Peter, Ladywood', corroborating the parish's current identity and location.
Edgbaston
Confidence: high
The audited accounts record current payments to St Germain, and the Trust's report explicitly identifies this patronage parish as St Germain (Edgbaston).
- Saint Martin's Trust annual report and financial statements, year ended 31 December 2024
The Trust lists St Germain (Edgbaston) among parishes whose patronage it holds, and records 2024 stipend and ministerial-support payments to St Germain. - Church of England Birmingham, 'Supporting CofE Birmingham Churches in the Journey to Net Zero Carbon', 25 September 2024
The Diocese identifies 'St Germain's Church, Edgbaston' as an active church project.
Perry Barr
Confidence: high
The Trust's current audited accounts explicitly record stipend and ministerial-support payments to St John, Perry Barr.
- Saint Martin's Trust annual report and financial statements, year ended 31 December 2024
The accounts record 2024 contributions to stipend-related costs and ministerial support for 'St John, Perry Barr'. - Church of England Birmingham, Education Team page
The Diocese refers to St John the Evangelist, Perry Barr as a Birmingham parish.
Remaining uncertainties
- The Trust's direct activity is grant-making, patronage and management of investment assets, rather than direct delivery of community services. Its operational geography should therefore be understood as the geography of funded clergy, parishes and related church support.
- The Charity Commission records Birmingham City as the area in which the Trust operates, while the annual report also permits support across the Diocese of Birmingham. The available evidence does not identify the locations of all beneficiaries of diocesan-wide grants for curates in training, sabbaticals, the GAP Youth Project or the Pastoral Support Scheme.
- The Trust supports nine patronage parishes and Christ Church Summerfield, but the available evidence does not provide sufficiently clear current ward-level location evidence for every one of those parishes. They have therefore not all been included as operational areas.
- The Trust owns several investment properties, but the accounts do not establish that these properties are sites of charitable service delivery or public access.
- The Birmingham Diocesan Board of Finance materially extends the Trust's reach by administering supported clergy costs and diocesan programmes, but the precise geographic distribution of that support is not reported.
Additional evidence needed
- A current grant register or trustees' report identifying each funded parish, project and beneficiary location for the most recent financial year.
- Confirmation from the Trust or Birmingham Diocesan Board of Finance of the locations served by the curates-in-training, sabbatical, youth-project and pastoral-support grants.
- A current list of Trust-owned properties and clarification of whether any are used for charitable activity beyond investment management.
- A current map or definition of the Trust's beneficial area and the parish boundaries it funds.
Areas of work
- General Charitable Purposes
Who they help
- Other Defined Groups
How they help
- Makes Grants To Individuals
- Makes Grants To Organisations
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A stabilising fund for parish ministry
The Trust appears to support the continuity of Anglican ministry by helping incumbents and curates meet practical needs, including housing, sites and financial endowment.
Why it matters
This suggests the organisation's contribution is structural rather than programme-based: it may help sustain the conditions under which parish churches can retain clergy and operate over time.
Show evidence
“Grants may be subject to conditions imposed by trustees, such as maintenance of curates.”
Source:Charity Commission“Gifts or loans may be made towards sites, houses for residence, endowment or augmentation of endowment.”
Source:Charity Commission
Its beneficiaries are institutional and individual
The Trust appears to operate across two linked levels: it can assist individual clergy while also resourcing the church bodies and assets around them.
Why it matters
This dual model may make it a potential bridge between personal clergy welfare and longer-term parish capacity, rather than a fund confined to either one.
Show evidence
“Makes grants to individuals and makes grants to organisations.”
Source:Charity Commission“Support the Anglican Clergy and Anglican Church in Birmingham.”
Source:Organisation
A narrowly bounded civic role
The Trust appears to be intentionally focused on Anglican parishes within a defined beneficial area, rather than serving Birmingham's wider population directly.
Why it matters
Understanding this boundary helps distinguish the Trust from broad community grantmakers and points to its likely importance within a specific faith-based network.
Show evidence
“Support is for the benefit of incumbents of parishes lying within the beneficial area.”
Source:Charity Commission“Support the Anglican Clergy and Anglican Church in Birmingham.”
Source:Organisation
- The beneficial area's precise boundary and the parishes eligible for support are unknown.
- There is no evidence about grant volumes, current priorities, decision-making criteria or recent beneficiaries.
- It is unclear whether support primarily responds to hardship, capital needs, clergy recruitment or strategic parish development.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports or accounts showing grant recipients, amounts and purposes.
- Trustee policies or application guidance defining eligibility, conditions and priorities.
- Evidence of relationships with diocesan bodies, parishes and other clergy-support organisations.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Support the Anglican Clergy and Anglican Church in Birmingham
Charity objects
1. GRANTS, SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS IMPOSED BY TRUSTEES SUCH AS MAINTENANCE OF CURATES. 2. GIFT OR LOAN A) FOR OR TOWARDS SITE FOR OR HOUSE FOR RESIDENCE B) ENDOWMENT OR AUGMENTATION OF ENDOWMENT. FOR BENEFIT OF INCUMBENTS OF PARISHES LYING WITHIN THE BENEFICIAL AREA.