Susanna Peake Charitable Trust
Charity 283462
Overview
Summary
Susanna Peake Charitable Trust appears to be a flexible grant-maker that uses a broad legal remit to pursue a deliberately focused pattern of support. Its role is not to deliver services directly, but to strengthen other charities, with particular attention to sensory impairment and prison welfare, reform and systems. Its stated preference for the West Midlands and South West suggests it may act as a regionally attentive funder within nationally significant issue areas.
Operational geography
Coverage: International
Operational areas:
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Remaining uncertainties
- The Charity Commission records Birmingham City as an area in which the Trust operates, but neither the current register entry nor the 2025 annual report identifies Birmingham grant recipients, projects, service locations or wards.
- The Trust is a grant-maker rather than a direct service provider. Its operational reach in Birmingham is therefore through funded organisations, but the available evidence does not establish which current grantees deliver activity in Birmingham or where within the city they work.
- No Birmingham physical site is evidenced. The Trust's principal office/address for appeals is in London, and the Charity Commission states that the Trust does not own or lease land or property.
- The 2025 accounts show current grants classified as international, but do not specify the countries or delivery locations associated with each grant.
Additional evidence needed
- A current grant-award list identifying funded organisations whose grants support work in Birmingham, including project descriptions and delivery locations.
- Grant agreements, trustees' grant-making records or an impact report showing the ward, neighbourhood or citywide geography of Birmingham-supported activity.
- Confirmation from the Trust or its current grantees of whether any funded services, projects or beneficiaries are presently located in Birmingham.
Areas of work
- General Charitable Purposes
Who they help
- Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
How they help
- Makes Grants To Organisations
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A broad remit paired with selective priorities
The Trust’s formal objects allow support for any charitable purpose, yet its trustees have chosen to concentrate much of their giving on hearing, sight and prison-related causes. This suggests strategic discretion rather than a narrowly fixed mission.
Why it matters
This helps distinguish the Trust from a single-issue funder: it may sustain current priorities while retaining capacity to respond to overlooked opportunities or changing needs.
Show evidence
“The trustees may apply income and capital for such charitable purposes recognised by the law of England and Wales as they select.”
Source:Charity Commission“The Trustees have elected to concentrate, although not exclusively, on registered charities concerned with hearing or sight issues and prison welfare, reform and systems.”
Source:Organisation
An intermediary rather than a frontline provider
The Trust appears to influence civic life through the organisations it funds, rather than through direct work with people affected by its priority issues.
Why it matters
Understanding it as an enabling funder directs attention toward its potential relationships with specialist charities, and toward the cumulative reach of its grant portfolio rather than its own service delivery.
Show evidence
“The charity helps other charities or voluntary bodies.”
Source:Charity Commission“The charity makes grants to organisations.”
Source:Charity Commission
Place preference may shape access to specialist funding
The preference for charities in the West Midlands and South West may give locally rooted organisations an advantage when seeking support for hearing, sight or prison-related work, despite the Trust not being limited to those regions.
Why it matters
This may make the Trust a potentially important connector between regional voluntary infrastructure and specialist national issue areas.
Show evidence
“When considering donations for UK based charities, the Trustees favour charities in the West Midlands and South West areas.”
Source:Organisation“The Trustees have elected to concentrate, although not exclusively, on registered charities concerned with hearing or sight issues and prison welfare, reform and systems.”
Source:Organisation
- The scale, frequency and typical size of grants are unknown.
- It is unclear whether the Trust funds direct services, advocacy, research, systems change, or a combination.
- There is no evidence of current grantees, partnerships or outcomes.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent grant lists showing recipient organisations, amounts, locations and purposes.
- Trustee reports or funding guidelines explaining selection criteria and the balance between its priority areas.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
The Trustees have elected to concentrate (although not exclusively) on registered charities concerned with hearing or sight issues and prison welfare, reform and systems. When considering donations for UK based charities, the Trustees favour charities in the West Midlands and South West areas. All grant applications must be submitted via email to rtccharities@rathbones.com marked FAO the charity.
Charity objects
TO APPLY THE INCOME OF THE TRUST FUND AND THE WHOLE OR SUCH PART OR PARTS OF THE CAPITAL THEREOF AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL IN THEIR ABSOLUTE DISCRETION FROM TIME TO TIME THINK FIT FOR SUCH PURPOSES RECOGNISED BY THE LAW OF ENGLAND AND WALES AS CHARITABLE AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL FROM TIME TO TIME SELECT.