The Flora & Frank Leith Charitable Trust

The will of Frank Leith provided for income to be applied within Victoria in perpetuity for public charitable purposes but with particular emphasis on assistance to children in poverty

About

Focus for 2023 Applications

The Trustees would encourage local regional service providers with an ABN and DGS to apply for a grant.

Learn More

Application Form

To download an application, please click on the image below.

Interim & Final Report

To download the interim & final report, please click on the image below.

Grants made in 2022

To download the report, please click on the image below.

The Leith Trust

Purpose of the Trust

The will of Frank Leith provided for income to be applied within Victoria in perpetuity for public charitable purposes but with particular emphasis on assistance to children in poverty including their accommodation, advancement in life, and education, including for Anglican welfare services. Grants have never been confined to the Anglican Church.

We prefer to fund programs that make a cost effective, demonstrable and sustainable difference for the better in the quality of life and access to opportunities for our targeted children, youth and families.

History

The Leith Trust was established by the Will of a retired hotelier, Frank Albert Leith, who died on 30 May 1966 and was added to by the Will of his widow, Florence Frances (Flora) Leith, who died on 19 February 1973. The Trust's bias toward youth is the wish of Mr and Mrs Leith who had no children of their own.

Application Process

The annual closing date for applications is 30 September. Successful applicants will be notified by mail by 31 December and unsuccessful applicants by 31 January.

Where an applicant received a grant in the previous annual distribution, but has not provided a final report within 12 months of its receipt of that grant, payment of a new grant will be postponed until the Final Report on the previous grant has been received.

Approximately 54% of applications made in 2021 were successful.

Terms & Conditions

Who can apply

An application can only be made by the organisation that will provide the service.


Grants may only be made to organisations which are both a charity and a Deductible Gift Recipient (under Subdivision 30-BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth)).


Further information may be requested to verify the charitable status of an organisation, including a copy of the Statement of Purposes or Object from your Constitution.


Preference will be given to eligible Victorian service originations. Interstate or internationally based organisations are generally not funded.


Applicants may be interviewed or contacted for more detail.


All applications will be treated confidentially, save that details of the organisation, project and amount of funding will be published on the Trust's website annually.


Length of the project

Generally the Trust funds projects that aim to be completed within twelve months from the date of the grant.


If support is sought for a project of greater than twelve months, funding can be requested for a particular stage of the project. The anticipated completion date, of both the specified stage and the entire project, should be clearly outlined in the application.


Projects that will not be considered are:

  • Administrative;
  • Management;
  • Staff training; or
  • Research.

The Trust is unable to make distributions to individuals for relief, study, research or travel or any other purposes.


All Grants will be made subject to the following conditions:


  1. The Grantee will use the whole of the grant exclusively for the Project described in the application for the grant and not for any other purpose.
  2. The Grantee will use its best endeavour to complete the Project, or in the case of an on-going Project the stage of the Project to which the application specifically related, within twelve months from the date of receipt of the Grant (the "Specified Period").
  3. Should the Grantee be unable to spend the funds in the Specified Period, the Grant will be returned to the Trust unless other arrangements have been approved in writing by the Trustees.
  4. The Grantee will promptly advise the Trust of any material change which may affect the Grantee's ability to undertake or complete the Project within the Specified Period.
  5. The Grantee will expend the grant only within the state of Victoria.
  6. The Grantee will show the grant separately in its books of account and keep records adequately to enable the use of grant funds to be checked readily.
  7. The Grantee will allow authorised representatives of the Trust to inspect the project during the life of the project.
  8. The Grantee is not required to acknowledge the assistance of the Trust in any published or displayed material relating to the Project.
  9. The Grantee will provide the Trust with a brief Interim Report on the progress of the Project by 30 September. Further applications will not be considered until an Interim Report is submitted.
  10. The Grantee will provide the Trust with a Final Report no later than 15 December. Applications for the following year will be considered ineligible without this final report. The Final Report will include:
    1. Title of your project
    2. A brief description of the Project as submitted in the application;
    3. A brief description of the Project at the time of the report
    4. A brief description of any changes which were made to the Project as described originally (if any) and reasons for the changes;
    5. A brief description of project outcomes from measurement, client feedback or observation; and
    6. A signed and dated statement of expenditure showing:
      • The amount received;
      • Details of the amounts expended on the Project;
      • The balance remaining at the date of the report;
      • If you have received a large grant we would appreciate some further detail as to how the grant has been expended, such as an itemised account.