DCEPT

Providing funding and support for charities and medical research.

About DCEPT

The Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust (DCEPT) was founded in 1951 with the primary aim of supporting UK registered charities involved in the fields of medicine including medical research, the elderly, and those “who have fallen on evil days through no fault of their own”.

More detailed information including guidelines for prospective applicants and the principles applied by the Trustees when considering appeals for funding is provided on this website under the headings; “Medical Research Grants”, “General Grants”, “Travelling Fellowships”.

Whom We Support

Activities Supported

Charities operating in support of the elderly.
Charities assisting people who have fallen on evil days through no fault of their own.
Medical Charities including those involved in medical research.
Medical and health related research in universities including small pilot projects and a personal research fellowship (the Sir Robert Boyd Fellowship).
Travelling Fellowship grants.
A limited number of charities specified in the founding Trust Deed.
General grants to disaster/emergency appeals are considered on a case by case basis.

Activities NOT Supported

Prospective applicants should be aware that the Trust Deed specifically prohibits the Trustees from making grants to charities primarily devoted to children and those under the control of central or local government. All applications received from charities which fall into these categories will be rejected without further consideration.

Right Honourable Eleanor Countess Peel

Eleanor, Dowager Countess Peel, inherited her considerable wealth from her father, Lord Ashton, who made his fortune in the manufacture of linoleum and who was responsible for several municipal buildings in his town, Lancaster.

It was her money which enabled the Peels to build Leydene House and her husband Robert Wellesley Peel to pursue a political career of some distinction.

The Trust was made to accord with the will of the Right Honourable Eleanor Countess Peel, who died on November 9th 1949, directing that “the Executors should stand possessed of her residuary estate upon trust to establish a charitable trust to be known as “the Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust”.

Prioritising the North West

The Trustees only support applications for General Grants from Charities operating in the “Preferred Locations” of Lancashire (especially Lancaster and District including all LA postcodes), Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside. Similarly for Medical Grants and the Sir Robert Boyd Fellowship the Trustees prioritise the North West of England. There is no geographical prioritisation for Travelling Fellowships.