Partnerships
We are a small fund and we keep a small list of partners. The six named below are the only organisations to which we have written a cheque more than once in the last decade. Each writes back, each spring, with a short account of where our money went; each is named here with their kind permission.
Local partner · since 2010
An independent foodbank serving the wider Leatherhead community, run from the Methodist Church on Church Road. We have given a small cheque each spring since 2010 — fifteen consecutive years.
Most recent gift · £50 · March 2025
Local partner · since 2014
The community trust that runs Fetcham Village Hall — where we hold our annual coffee morning. We have twice contributed to the hall's heating-oil fund.
Most recent gift · £40 · October 2024
Local partner · since 2011
The Anglican parish church serving Ashtead. The Vicar runs a small parish hardship fund into which we have contributed three times. The Lodge attends the harvest festival each year.
Most recent gift · £35 · January 2026
Local partner · since 2019
A small volunteer-run garden on Lower Road, Great Bookham, supplying fresh vegetables to households on local hardship lists. Two cheques from us; the second supported polytunnel repair after a storm.
Most recent gift · £30 · September 2025
Masonic partner · since 2008
The national charitable Foundation of English and Welsh Freemasonry, into whose Surrey Festival we contribute our small annual cheque from the Festival Fund. The MCF's 2024 charitable spend across the UK exceeded £40 million.
Most recent gift · £30 · February 2025
Masonic partner · since 1963
Our provincial body, through whom the Surrey Festival contributions are channelled. The Provincial Grand Almoner is the standing point of contact for cross-Lodge enquiries.
Standing partnership since registration
It is important to be plain about what we can offer a partner organisation. We cannot offer multi-year funding agreements. We cannot offer matched funding for larger appeals. We cannot promise a fixed annual amount, because our income fluctuates with the kindness of our small donor list. What we can offer is a written acknowledgement on receipt, a cheque within ten working days, a quiet attendance at your annual thanksgiving service if you have one, and the steady habit of writing to ask, every spring, how the previous year's small cheque was spent.
We do not ask for our logo on your literature, or for branded mention, or for our trustees to be quoted in your press releases. The fund's giving is meant to feel like a friend's letter rather than a corporate sponsorship. We are also unable to accept restricted gifts in return — we are not in a position to ring-fence donor monies for the work of partner charities.
Almost all of our partnerships have started with a letter. Sometimes a vicar has written; sometimes a foodbank coordinator has rung the Lodge Secretary's home number; sometimes — once or twice — a Lodge member has met a partner at the coffee morning and brought the matter to the Trustees. The pattern is consistent: a letter or a conversation, a private consideration by the Trustees, a small first cheque, and then — if the work matches what the trust deed allows — a quiet relationship that may continue for years.
If you would like to begin a conversation, the short enquiry form below is the most reliable route. The Trustees consider partnership enquiries at the February, May, August and November meetings, and we aim to reply by the end of the month following.
Partner enquiry
If you run a local charity in our four parishes and would like the Trustees to consider a small partnership, please use the form below. We will reply within four weeks.
