The Trustees aim to fulfil Sir Jules Thorn’s vision to make life easier for the sick and disadvantaged through a range of grant programmes designed to help UK registered charities achieve objectives which are consistent with the Trust’s priorities. Resources for grant-making are allocated each year and distributed competitively. In some instances, as with grants for medical research and The Ann Rylands Special Project, applications are by invitation only, but for the remainder of the Trust’s grant programmes applications are accepted from any charity which considers it meets the criteria.