The Chair’s Blog

In May 2025 we introduced an online application process which has proved very timely in light of the significant increase in grant applications that we are seeing. This has made the grant application process more accessible to probation officers, in particular, and we are now receiving 30 – 40 applications every week. The online process…

The number of grant applications made to the Fund has continued to increase dramatically this year. Only seven months into our financial year, we have already received over 1,000 applications, compared to 1,376 in the whole of last year. This increase in applications is on the back of an all-time high level of grant expenditure…

We are very pleased and honoured to welcome The Right Honorable Lady Rose of Colmworth, DBE, PC as a patron of the Fund. Dame Vivien Rose is one of the most senior judges in the UK and was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2021.

I am very pleased to announce that the fabulous Old Bailey Choir will be performing “By the Waters Edge”, narrated by Mr Larry Lamb, of Eastenders and Gavin & Stacey fame, on 8 October 2025 in the Grand Hall at the Old Bailey. All proceeds will go to the Sheriffs’ & Recorder’s Fund. For further…

Our 2025 Annual Report was published today. It was an exceptionally busy year and another record breaking one, with grant expenditure hitting an all-time high for the second year running of £242,000. With income from donations remaining largely static at just under £200,000, this increase in grants meant that grant expenditure exceeded donation income this…

Thanks to the fantastic fundraising efforts of the Sheriffs, the Recorder and members of the Advisory Council over the last two years, we have been able to continue to support some excellent rehabilitation projects in the London prisons, including three new projects: the StandOut project at HMP Wandsworth, Onwards & Upwards’ XO Barbers project at…

Over the last two years the Fund has seen a huge increase in the number of applicationsis, which is not surprising given that over 17,000 prisoners have been released under the Government’s Early Release Scheme to try and alleviate the prison crisis. We received 1,376 grant applications this last financial year, funding all 1,339 eligible…

I am pleased to be able to report that grant applications to the Fund can now be made online.  This should make the application process more accessible to probation officers and expedite the grant making process so that we are able to reach beneficiaries quicker, when they are most vulnerable and their needs are greatest.…