The Dowager Countess Eleanor Peel Trust was founded in 1951. The Trust's General Grants supports small to medium-sized UK registered charities working in specific areas of the North West of England for the benefit of older people and assisting people who have fallen on hard times.

The funding is intended to support the following:

• Medical care charities - care specifically aimed at benefiting older people, to include Alzheimer's, Macular Disease, Prostate Cancer, and Parkinson's disease, etc.
• Charities in connection with older people - old age, homes, and carers.
• Charities for people fallen upon hard times - disabled, hospices, ex-services, natural or man-made disasters, mental health and homelessness.

The Trustees’ preference is to support capital projects or project driven applications and not running costs or general operating expenses, although the Trustees are flexible to take account of the needs of smaller charities which operate in the Trust's preferred locations. For charities in this category consideration will be given to supporting revenue projects and running costs in addition to capital projects.