Bentham-Moxon Trust
The mission of Bentham-Moxon Trust is to provide financial support for plant and fungal collection, research and education that further the work of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
About the Trust
The Bentham-Moxon Trust was founded in 1984 by bringing together several charitable trusts, all of which have the objective of supporting the work of Kew. The first of these trusts was set up in 1884 with a bequest of George Bentham. Further gifts were made over the years, including from the wills of Margaret Louisa Moxon and Alfred Edward Moxon.
Since 1989, and the establishment of the Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (now Kew Foundation), The Bentham-Moxon Trust no longer actively seeks new funds. The Trust retains its investments and makes grants out of its annual income.
Over half of The Bentham-Moxon Trust funds are restricted by the wish of the donor, the largest being the Krukoff Fund which supports African Botany in two ways. Firstly by funding the Curator of African Botany at Kew. Secondly by providing a bursary for a postgraduate student to study the MSc in Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), developed and taught in collaboration with Kew.
Additionally approx. £70,000 of annual income generated from the other restricted funds and unrestricted funds is used to support 30-40 individual small grants.
Board of Trustees
Report and Financial Statement 2022
Grants
Grants are made in five main areas:
1. Plant and fungal collection and field research expeditions
The Trust is keen to support plant and fungal collecting and field research expeditions. Individuals can apply for funds to join an expedition or to undertake individual research projects. The Trust is keen to support expeditions with a conservation impact.
2. Overseas botanists and mycologists visiting, training or working at Kew
Visiting botanists and mycologists have been able to significantly increase the value of their time at Kew by undergoing training or visiting neighbouring botanical or mycological institutions. The Trust has made grants to cover the cost of the extra training or travel as part of a capacity building programme. The application has to be made by a Kew staff member on behalf of the overseas botanist or mycologist. The Trust expects that the overseas botanist or mycologist will have their salaries covered by their home institution.
3. Travel to botanical and mycological institutions
This type of award enables research to proceed when botanical or mycological specimens are not available for study at Kew. Other types of research visits not directly involving collections are also eligible.
4. Travel to and presenting at conferences
The Trust provides assistance when departmental budgets are unable to cover the full costs. There should be a good case for Kew to be represented and that the person’s attendance would be valuable to the work of Kew. Funding is provided to enable a presentation (oral or poster) to be made at the Conference, and funds are not normally provided for attendance only. Applications for conference attendance are only accepted from individuals who are presenting. Group applications are no longer accepted.
5. Preserving and maintaining Wildflowers at Kew and Wakehurst
The Trust provides awards to preserve and maintain Wildflowers at Kew and Wakehurst. The Trust has made awards for mapping and collecting seed of rare native wildflowers and establishing beehives to support pollination. These awards are made possible through the Marjorie Hurley Fund.
The Trust's discretionary funds are relatively small and individual grant awards are fairly modest. Matched funding is encouraged. For more detail on recent awards see below for the summary of grants awarded.
Checklist for applicants
When reviewing applications the Trustees will assess against the following criteria:
Communication
a. The proposed activity should be described using clear and concise language throughout and include a summary of the proposal (maximum of 200 words). This summary should be clearly understandable to a non-specialist audience and, if awarded a grant, will be published on this website.
b. Proposed project outputs should be clearly explained e.g. publications planned, talks proposed, blogs or newsletter articles written.
Content
a. This should provide full details of the purpose of the project/activity using clear and concise language throughout.
b. The proposal should demonstrate a clear contribution to the delivery of Kew's Scientific Priorities 2021 - 2030 and/or Corporate Plan (Manifesto for Change 2021-2030).
c. It should provide any technical detail needed to explain the proposal.
Impact and benefits
Does the application proposal demonstrate the impact and benefits of the proposal? The following list is not exhaustive but provides examples of the types of information required to demonstrate the impact and benefits of your project:
- Enhances our knowledge of plants and fungi
- Planned publications and dissemination of outcomes
- Has training outputs e.g. a training course or training for individuals (not core training that is required for Kew staff)
- Builds up good long-term relationships between Kew and other botanical/mycological organisations and conservation groups
- Is this a scoping activity that might lead to a bigger project?
- Projects that demonstrate innovation
- Projects that demonstrate benefits to society
Applicants are asked to check their project proposal against these criteria. Applicants are also asked to obtain up-to-date costs for travel and car hire if these are involved. Where other sources for funding have been or will be approached these should be listed.
The application must be signed-off with comments by your Kew line manager (for Kew staff) or Kew sponsor (for non-Kew staff). Non-Kew staff applicants will have discussed their application with staff at Kew and secured their support. The Kew sponsor will be required to confirm their willingness to host the applicant. Please allow sufficient time for this sign-off process.
How to apply
Application form
For an application form, please email The Bentham-Moxon Secretary/Treasurer Jennifer Alsop j.alsop@kew.org
External applicants
External botanists, mycologists and horticulturists will have discussed their application with staff at Kew and secured their support. A supporting statement must be provided by their Kew sponsor.
Timetable
The project year for applications is 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2025. Grants are made annually in November for the following year’s activity. The Trustees’ decisions are final. Applications have to be with the Secretary/Treasurer of the Trust by 30 September 2023. All applications will be acknowledged by email. If an acknowledgement has not been received within five working days, contact the Secretary/Treasurer (see below).
Deadline for applications is 30 September 2023
Successful applicants
Project Report Form: All successful grant applicants are required to write a short report after the completion of their project using the Trust’s project report form. Reports will be lodged in Kew’s Research Repository. Successful grantees are also encouraged to offer a talk at the Trust's annual Symposium.
Symposium
Successful applicants may be approached to offer an illustrated talk (20 minutes maximum including questions from the audience) at the Trust's Symposium held annually. This is an opportunity to explain your research project and your results to the Trustees and the wider Kew community.
We know that you care about your personal data and how it is used, and we want you to know that the Bentham-Moxon Trust uses your personal data carefully. The Bentham-Moxon Trust Grants Privacy Notice will help you understand what personal data we collect, why we collect it and what we do with it.
Get in touch
Jennifer Alsop, Secretary/Treasurer
Bentham-Moxon Trust, The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE
Email: j.alsop@kew.org