How Duet funding works

From individual donations, monthly giving plans and fundraising by supporters. Our founders, Mike and Julie Matthews, cover all of Duet's running costs separately, so a donation is not absorbed by offices, websites or admin before it reaches a project.

Each application is read by trustees who spent twenty-five years in drug development and health research. We ask three questions: would this work otherwise stall for want of a modest sum, can it be finished in a couple of years, and will it help patients? There is no scoring panel and no committee season — a trustee reads what you wrote and decides.

Most are between £5,000 and £50,000 — the size that finishes a pilot study, validates a test or funds a statistician, but is too small for larger funders to bother with. We can go higher where the case is strong, and we will say so honestly if a project needs a bigger funder than us.

Only the costs directly tied to a project — consumables, specialist time, data licences, patient-facing materials. We do not fund core salaries, buildings, equipment or general overheads unconnected to the work itself.

No. We pay in instalments that suit the work, usually an amount to start and further payments as milestones are met. That keeps the money matched to progress and lets us see a project is on track before the next tranche goes out.

Any money a project does not spend comes back to Duet and is re-allocated to the next grant. We agree a budget up front, pay in instalments, and ask for a final accounting — so unspent funds are returned rather than absorbed elsewhere.

The surplus returns to Duet's grant pot. Often a pilot comes in slightly under — a reagent cheaper than quoted, a few days of clinician time saved — and that money goes straight into the next application we are reading.

If work has not begun, any money already paid is returned in full. If it has begun and then stops, we account for what was spent and recover the balance. Nothing is written off as lost without a clear record of why.

We aim to move money into work, not sit on it. We keep a modest working reserve so we can honour commitments if a donor's monthly plan changes, but the intention is always to get gifts out of the door and into projects within a reasonable time.

Every grant is published on our grants page with its budget and how much has been paid out so far, updated as each instalment goes. For the full annual picture, our accounts are filed with the Charity Commission under number 1217999.

Universities, NHS teams, patient organisations and other UK-based groups doing practical health research, communication or education. We do not fund individuals for personal treatment, and we do not duplicate work a commercial sponsor is already paying for.

Fill in the short form on our apply-for-a-grant page. There is no long proposal, no portal account and no committee season — a few paragraphs about the project, what it costs and when you would start. That is the whole application.

We do not set a fixed deadline, but we do not sit on applications either — a trustee reads yours and comes back with a yes, a no, or a not-yet, and the reason. They may email a question or two first.

The project in plain English, the problem it addresses, what it will cost (including the unglamorous line items), how long it will run and when you would start. We would rather understand it than be impressed by it, so jargon is not required.

Yes, and we encourage it. A two-line email to us saves everybody time — we will tell you honestly whether it is something Duet would fund or whether a different funder is a better fit.

Yes. A no is usually about fit or timing, not a verdict on the work. If the project develops or a new question emerges, reapply — and we will tell you in the decision what would make a future application stronger.