Clothworkers' foundation review 2012

Page 1

ANNUAL REVIEW

2012


Trustees’ Report

Contents Review of Charitable Giving

2

£100m 1977 - 2012

4

Main and Small Grants Programmes

• Alcohol and Substance Misuse 22 • Disabled People 23 • Disadvantaged Minority

2

Communities Disadvantaged Young People

25 26

Financial Information 2012

21

Proactive Grants Programme

• Domestic and Sexual Violence • Elderly people • Homelessness • Prisoners and Ex-Offenders • Visual Impairment

28 29 30 31 32

• Overseas • Conservation • Autism • Mathematics Education

33 34 36 37

Review of Charitable Giving Grants totalling £5.2m were made during the year: Grants 2008 – 2012 £000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

4,951 4,116 5,703 5,281 5,203

Grants are paid from the Foundation and three subsidiary trusts which have narrower objects concerning education, relief in need and visual impairment: Grants (2012) £000 Foundation Relief in Need 477 Visual Impairment 218 Education 169

4,339

Financial report Income available for grant-making in 2012 totalled £5.7m, of which £3.5m was generated from the Foundation’s investment portfolio, and £2.2m was received as a donation from The Clothworkers’ Company. A further donation of £0.3m was received as an endowment. Grant commitments during the year totalled £5.2m. Although this was a decline of 3% on 2011, uncommitted resources of £0.2m have been carried forward to increase funding of grants in 2013. The investment portfolio of the Foundation increased in value by 6% to £116m. £100m milestone We passed an important milestone in 2012 - £100m in grants awarded since the Foundation was established in 1977.

£100m 1977-2012

The Clothworkers’ charitable giving goes back almost five hundred years, but it was only thirty five years ago that the Company created and endowed The Clothworkers’ Foundation as the primary conduit for its philanthropy. Initial funding came from the sale of an interest in a property in the City of London. The Foundation now has assets of £117m which generate an income for grant-making, and which are augmented by significant annual donations from The Clothworkers’ Company. As a result, we are able to give over £5m a year to a broad range of charitable causes. This Review includes case studies of a small number of notable grants we have made over the period to celebrate the work which charities have done with our support. Grant-making activity We have historically awarded between 150 and 200 grants each year. However, the introduction of the Small Grants Programme in 2007 resulted in an increase, with a range of 255 to 313 from 2007 to 2011. In 2012, 225 grants were awarded, 44 fewer than the 269 awarded the previous year. We cannot attribute this to any one factor, but do not believe that the drop is cause for concern. Our policy remains for our grant to be meaningful to the overall project. Most of our grants by number (over 51%) were for £10,000 or less, a similar pattern to previous years, with grants between £20,000 and £50,000 representing 26% of the total. Larger grants continued to be few in number, accounting for 7%, although four grants comprised 29% of total commitments. Notable amongst these were £720,000 to the University of Leeds, the first instalment of a £1.75m commitment to create the Clothworkers’ Centre for Textile

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Trustees’ Report

Materials Innovation for Healthcare, and £366,000 to Vision Aid Overseas for a project in Sierra Leone. Although application numbers were also slightly down on previous years, we believe this is due to improved guidance and clarity on our new website and new, more focused programme areas, all of which were introduced in 2012. We are pleased with the continuing increase in our success rate which was 58% compared to 50% in 2011. Details of grants over £10,000 awarded during the year, and case studies on a selection of those grants, can be found on pages 22 to 32. Grant programmes A five-yearly review of our grant-making strategy in 2011 resulted in new programme areas (see table below) for the Main and Small Grants Programmes which are more focused on deprivation than previously, and which were introduced in 2012. Grants by programme area amount (%) Alcohol and substance misuse 2 Disabled people Disadvantaged minority communities 4 Disadvantaged young people 12 Domestic and sexual violence 2 Elderly people 6 Homelessness 6 Prisoners and ex-offenders 2 Visual impairment 2 Autism 10 Conservation 5 Visual impairment in Africa 7 Other 5 Textiles

19

18

We anticipated that our new programmes would take some time to build momentum as charities in the respective fields became aware of the availability of funding. Experts from these sectors have made presentations to Trustee meetings to help increase our understanding of the issues. We have taken various steps, including attending conferences, to publicise the existence of our programmes, and expect this to lead to a flow of applications to support eligible projects. Our remit remains UK-wide, and we only fund capital projects under the Main and Small Grants Programmes. We also have a Regular Grants Programme, which is not open to applications. This programme provides annual grants, subject to regular review, to a small number of selected charities; we awarded £450,000 under this programme in 2012.

Proactive Grants Programme 2012 was the sixth year of the proactive programme which came about because we wanted to identify and support areas of particular interest to the Trustees. We work with selected organisations to develop projects which could have a lasting impact. The programme represents a major shift in how we approach some aspects of our grant-making. It gives us greater flexibility than our reactive programmes and we are not, for example, restricted to providing capital funding. Once we have undertaken detailed research and developed a project specification, we identify potential grantees, inviting them to apply for a grant either individually or as part of a competitive tendering process. This usually involves a small number of carefully chosen organisations which we believe have the capacity and ability to deliver the work. Our first proactive five-year programmes, in Mathematics Education and in Autism, have now ended, with Conservation extended by a further three years to 2015. 2012 also saw the introduction of a new overseas initiative into our proactive portfolio. The Trustees have given in principle support to themes for two new proactive programmes. The first, Building Better Futures, will focus on the underlying causes which led to the riots in August 2011, and look to fund initiatives which attempt to offer effective, long-term solutions. Research is currently in the early stages, but the programme is expected to focus on any one, or combination of: education, employability and training initiatives for disadvantaged young people; deprivation in urban/inner city areas; young people involved in gang culture; and young offenders. The second new programme will be arts-based, with detailed research starting in summer 2013. More information on the Proactive Grants Programme can be found on pages 33-37. Changes in 2012 During 2012 we redesigned our website to make it more interesting, informative and navigable. It now contains more information on our grant-making, including case studies of some recent grants and a step-by-step online questionnaire to help potential applicants determine whether they are eligible. We are now accepting applications by email which saves time and money both for the charities and us. We also undertook a rebranding exercise to give the Foundation a distinct identity from The Clothworkers’ Company which projects a modern image, whilst still reflecting our heritage.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012

3


£100m 1977-2012

2012 saw us reach an important milestone; we have now awarded more than £100m in grants since the Foundation was set up in 1977. 4

The last 35 years have seen a considerable increase in funds awarded by the Foundation, from £100,000 in 1980, rising to around the £5m mark in recent years. There have also been a number of major changes in the Foundation’s approach to giving since the 1970s, including the introduction of the Small Grants Programme in 2006, which awards grants of up to £10,000, and the Proactive Grants Programme in 2007, which involved a significant change in approach to some of the Foundation’s grant-making.

1977

The Clothworkers’ Foundation established

1990-94 Sale of Angel Court leasehold for £20m £1.2m grant to University of Leeds Founder member of the Association of Charitable Foundations

1986

1989

£5m

£10m

1978-80

1993

First rental income received from Angel Court

£20m

190 trusts passed from Company to Foundation Education bursaries terminated through capitalised payments

1981

Mary Datchelor Trust established with sale proceeds of Company-owned school

1986-89

Trustees carry out first strategy review £0.75m maths grant to Royal Institution

£100m 1977-2012

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

1998-2002

£1.2m Millennium grant to St Ethelburga’s Foot and Mouth Disaster Appeals supported Strategic review of grant-making policies 25th anniversary reception in presence of HRH Princess Alexandra


£100m 1977-2012 We believe that over the past 35 years the Foundation has developed into a modern funder – more focused and professional in outlook and approach. Overleaf is a retrospective look at some grants made since 1977. Our current grant-making policy means that some of these projects would not now be funded in our reactive programmes, in particular overseas, church, arts, heritage, and environmental projects. The focus of our grant-making has changed over time, with some categories no longer qualifying as we strive to make the greatest impact with the finite funds available to us.

2006-07

Grants programmes restructured following strategic review

The grants give a sense of the breadth of our giving over the period and are in the main large awards. However, we pride ourselves in our support of smaller organisations and projects – over the past five years, we have made 500 grants of up to £10,000, predominantly to charities with income of less than £250,000. We also look to help individuals who are disadvantaged by providing block grants to organisations which have the infrastructure and networks to be able to distribute such relief effectively.

2012

New grants programmes launched Rebranding of Foundation’s identity

Small Grants Programme launched Autism and Conservation proactive programmes launched Total invested assets pass £100m

2007

2012

£75m

£100m in grants distributed since 1977

2002 £50m

2003-04

Subsidiary trusts restructured down to three charities from 18 Total invested assets pass £50m mark Maths Education proactive programme begins Student bursary programme replaces individual grants

2005

Livery Fund launched

2008-10

Governance structure modernised £1m grant to Victoria & Albert Museum for Clothworkers’ Centre for Textiles and Fashion Study and Conservation

2011

Strategic review of grant-making policies £0.75m grant to British Museum for Clothworkers’ Organics Conservation Studio T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012

5


£100m 1977-2012

6 Royal Institution

Textile Conservation Centre

£2,140,000

£1,360,000

1985 - 2012

1981- 2012

University of Surrey

St Martin in the Fields

Anchor Housing

£300,000

£250,000

£500,000

1997

2006

1990

Imperial College

University College London

Victoria & Albert Museum

£773,700

£527,000

£1,000,000

1977 - 2006

1994

2010

£100m 1977-2012

Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability £300,000 1979 - 2002

A selection of major T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012

7 Institute of Education

Warner Textile Archive

Prior’s Court

£700,000

£250,000

£200,000

2007

2003

2011

Millennium Maths Project

University of Manchester £480,000

£282,000

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

2003 - 2012

2009- 2010

£250,000

Medical Emergency Relief International

British Museum £750,000

£200,000

£690,000

2011

2011

2001

Ambitious About Autism

2003 -2012

grants 2007-2012 T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 Up to 2006 the Foundation regularly supported UK charities working overseas, with grants of almost £2m being awarded in the final five years of the programme. The Trustees took the difficult decision as part of a strategic review to narrow the focus of our giving to allow it to achieve a greater impact. We have just started overseas giving again through a focused proactive programme which is now fully committed. Over the years, we have supported a significant number of projects around the world.

8

Overseas Save the Children Total support £336,000 Save the Children works in 120 countries to save children’s lives, fight for their rights and help them fulfil their potential. In 2011, over 8.5 million children benefitted from Save the Children’s work in some way including: 1.2 million children treated for malaria, pneumonia or diarrhoea; 800,000 hungry children better nourished; 500,000 children kept safe from harm and abuse; and 21,000 health workers trained. We awarded £250,700 over three years from 1986-1988 towards a training centre for health workers in Nepal. Save the Children have been operating in Nepal since 1976; today they work with 112 partners in 57 districts in a number of areas including child protection, education, health and nutrition, and HIV/AIDS. In 2005, they received a second grant of £30,000 towards the construction of primary schools and non-formal education centres in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. Their current education programme in Pakistan has built on the success of this project and, in 2011 alone, they supported over 1,800 schools and over 1.5 million Pakistani children by improving the delivery and quality of education services, getting more girls into school, and delivering nonformal education to children involved in labour.

£100m 1977-2012

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012 Given the huge problem of lack of access to clean water for 1.5 billion people in the world, we have supported a number of projects seeking to alleviate this major cause of disease and death, with grants totalling £203,000.

Tearfund Total support £78,000 A Christian international relief and development organisation, Tearfund has more than 40 years’ experience in disaster risk reduction, response and recovery, and in community development and advocacy. Working through a network of local church partners and disaster response teams in more than 50 countries worldwide, Tearfund runs programmes in areas such as water and sanitation, education, anti-trafficking, HIV/AIDs awareness, and food security. In 2001, we awarded £78,000 to be divided between a community water project in Uganda (£45,000) and a centre for abandoned children in Peru (£33,000).

9

The Kigezi water and sanitation project was designed for poor rural villages in South West Uganda where women and children were travelling excessive distances for clean water. Our grant was used to build water tanks at four village primary school locations, providing water for 2,600 children. The Kigezi project is still running today and is making a difference to thousands more people who were unable to access clean water. The project in Peru aimed to rehabilitate orphaned and abandoned children who had migrated to the city and established themselves collectively in poor districts. It provided a caring environment in which the children could gain education and employment skills to begin to rebuild their lives.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 The Foundation has had a conscious policy of supporting causes or projects which charities may find challenging to fund. For this reason, the majority of our funding goes into our reactive grants programmes which are open to applications. At an individual project level, we are happy to fund elements which some funders find unappealing, and are prepared to fund causes which may not attract wide public support.

Medicine and Health 10

The HIV virus

AIDS Care Education and Training (ACET) Total support £90,000 Set up in 1988 in response to the poor treatment of, and discrimination against, people living with HIV and AIDS in the UK, ACET now works with some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in 23 countries. The charity offers practical and compassionate care and support, and sexual health and HIV education and training. The introduction of AIDS awareness and education into the national curriculum in the early 1990s meant that every school was required to teach the subject. However, many teachers found this difficult and looked for help. Our £90,000 in 2001 was towards a school education programme in the UK which increased young people’s understanding of sexual health issues, so that they would be better prepared when entering sexual relationships and when making lifestyle choices. In addition to ACET educators offering lessons in schools, the project involved distributing booklets to pupils and information packs to teachers. Its ultimate aim was to remove the fear, embarrassment and confusion surrounding HIV and AIDS, to help pupils relate to people with the

£100m 1977-2012

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

condition, and to look at issues such as infection and prevention in a nonjudgemental way. With nearly 80,000 HIV positive people in the UK and 7,000 new infections a year, the problem of HIV and AIDS cannot be ignored; ACET continues to provide a range of services for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.


£100m 1977-2012 For many years, the Foundation has been supporting charities which help people who are homeless through our Social Inclusion programme; in the last five years, we have made grants of more than £900,000 in this area. Reflecting the importance of this issue in society today, we have created a separate grant-making category, Homelessness, to focus our support further.

Social Inclusion 11

employment training; and support for rough sleepers, many of whom have complex needs.

St Mungo’s Total support £152,500 St Mungo’s has been helping homeless people since 1969. Managing more than 100 accommodation projects across 18 London boroughs and in seven local council areas in the south of England, they provide housing to around 1,700 homeless people every night. They also offer: recoveryfocused specialist support to homeless people with mental health and/or substance and alcohol issues; life skills, independent living and

In 2001, we awarded £150,000 towards a housing project for homeless people with ongoing mental health support needs. At the time, people in this situation often risked getting ‘stuck’ in unsuitable hostel accommodation without anywhere else to go. Our grant was used to convert a registered care home, owned by the charity, into more individualised accommodation which offered structured support and the security of long-term accommodation. Over the past decade, the movement towards supported independent living at the property in London’s King’s Cross has continued and the project, along with St Mungo’s as a whole, has further developed its services for people with mental health needs. Last year, the project deregistered as a care home, and today the focus is on equipping residents to live more autonomously, eventually moving into a place of their own.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 Helping those who have been injured defending and protecting our country and our citizens has long been an area of support for the Foundation, complementing the Company’s welfare grants to its affiliates. Over the years we have made grants to a number of organisations working in this area, from the Royal Hospital Chelsea and the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home to the Police Rehabilitation Trust and Fire Services National Benevolent Fund.

Sensory room

12

Disability Royal Star and Garter Home for Disabled Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen Total support £193,500 Royal Star and Garter Homes was founded in 1916 with the purpose of caring for severely-injured young men returning from the battlefields of the First World War. Today it provides nursing and therapeutic care to the disabled ex-service community. With their original home, a listed building in Richmond, Surrey, becoming increasingly unsuited to modern care standards, the charity began a development programme to build three new

£100m 1977-2012

care homes in different parts of the country. The £150,000 grant in 2008, our fifth to the charity, was for the purchase of specialist equipment for 60 en-suite shower rooms at the first new home in Solihull in the West Midlands. The equipment has improved the quality of life for residents, enabling them to have as much control as possible over the personal and sensitive daily act of bathing/showering, regardless of whether they require assistance from care staff or are able to use the facilities themselves.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012 Our grant-making is directed primarily at funding capital projects since our research indicates that many trusts tend only to support revenue projects. Lottery and State funding can be available for capital expenditure, but generally requires that matched funding be raised. This means there is a need for trusts which support capital projects; the Trustees consider this when they undertake policy reviews every five years. In order to spread our giving, we will only give a charity a capital grant once every five years. However, there are many organisations which have received more than one award over the years.

13

Encouragement of Young People Chailey Heritage School Total support £250,000 Located in Sussex, Chailey Heritage School is a special school for children and young people with complex physical disabilities, including visual and hearing impairments, and associated learning difficulties.

bungalows. The second, £100,000 in 2004, was towards modernising and upgrading facilities which involved constructing a new building as well as refurbishing existing space.

A registered children’s home with six residential bungalows, some pupils stay for occasional respite, some are weekly or fortnightly boarders, others are resident year-round. The charity has received three grants from us. The first, for £50,000 in 1996, was for equipping and furnishing new

Our most recent grant in 2012 was again for £100,000; it was towards converting a building into a life skills centre to provide a transition service for their post-19 pupils with profound and multiple physical disabilities and complex health needs.

Multi sensory room

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 The Trustees are aware of the crucial role played by carers of people with disabilities, and of their need to have some respite from their caring. We have funded a number of projects which provide a break for the carer as well as improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Exmoor National Park and the Lake District. They cater for people of all ages with sensory, learning and physical disabilities, including those with the most complex needs.

14

Carers Lake District Calvert Trust Total support £135,000

Opened by HRH Countess of Wessex in 2011, the pool was used by over 4,000 people in its first year alone. Feedback on the benefits of time spent in the water centre has been extremely positive, with one user who suffered a stroke believing that his recovery would not have been possible without the use of the facility and commenting that “it is so different to other leisure facilities because they cater for the fact that I am a wheelchair user”.

Photo: OMG Photography

The Lake District Calvert Trust is a residential outdoor centre with over 35 years’ experience delivering challenging outdoor adventure residential activity courses, short breaks and holidays for people with disabilities and their families and friends. There are three centres – in Northumberland,

Having previously supported the Exmoor and Northumberland projects, in 2009 we awarded £100,000 to Lake District Calvert Trust towards a cutting edge new water centre which combines state-of-the-art technology with the benefits of hydrotherapy to provide a complete sensory and physical experience for its disabled users.

£100m 1977-2012

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012 Up to 2006 we had a programme providing grants to environmental projects. We supported a wide range of projects, from protecting land in a Brazilian rain forest and a stretch of double-bank chalk river in Wiltshire, to the creation of a new native wood in Kent and research into soil bioremediation processes. This programme no longer features in our grant-making.

Environment Royal Botanical Gardens Kew Foundation

15

Total support £985,250 Drylands (arid and semi-arid lands) cover about 41% of the earth’s land surface and support a quarter of the world’s population in some of the poorest and most environmentally threatened countries. People living in these regions depend on a wide variety of plants as sources for food, forage, fuelwood, medicines and more. During times of drought and severe food shortages, these people depend even more on wild plants for their survival. Yet knowledge about plant resources is lost as rural people migrate to urban areas, or are displaced by famine or conflict. Meanwhile, much information remains scattered in scientific literature, effectively inaccessible to those who need it most. Against this background, we awarded £561,000 to the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew Foundation over a three year period from 1992-1994 for the development of the Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. The aim of SEPASAL is to capture and disseminate information on wild and under-utilised plants as an essential first step in the sustainable use of those resources – a critical factor in preventing damage to the environment, and for improving the quality of life for millions of people. SEPASAL is the world’s most comprehensive and fully searchable database of information on useful wild and semiwild domesticated plants of tropical and subtropical drylands. The SEPASAL database contains information on 7,000 plant species; it is available to scientists, development agencies and relief organisations working to improve livelihoods in dryland countries. SEPASAL also plays a role in providing lists of species to help guide collecting for conservation, storage and research, and for restoring degraded habitats with locally appropriate useful species.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012

Millennium Grant St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace Total support £1,200,000

To mark the Millennium, the Trustees decided in 2000 to make a significant grant which, whilst having a link with the heritage of the City of London, also aimed to address a major issue in our society. Having undertaken extensive research, the Foundation selected a ground-breaking reconciliation project spear-headed by the Bishop of London.

In 1993, St Ethelburga’s Church, one of the City of London’s oldest churches, was almost completely destroyed by an IRA bomb.

16

Following a major reconstruction programme, the Church eventually reopened in 2002 as St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, since which time its purpose has been to help people build relationships across divisions of conflict, culture and religion by inspiring and equipping them to practise reconciliation and peacemaking in their own communities and lives. We awarded a grant of £1.2m in 2001 towards the construction, furnishing and equipping of the new Centre, which today offers a wide range of activities including world music evenings, inter-faith workshops and poetry recitals. Since 2005, in a further manifestation of the Centre’s work in bringing people of different faiths, and none, together, a Bedouin tent has been ‘pitched’ within the grounds. The tent, created to enable different approaches to hosting and supporting conversations across religious boundaries, is used for meditation, worship, storytelling, and discussion of religious conflicts, social and other sensitive or complex issues.

£100m 1977-2012

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012 Although the Foundation’s policy excludes grants to places of worship, there are a few exceptions – the Company’s church of St Olave Hart Street, close to Clothworkers’ Hall, which receives a grant each year, and St Paul’s Cathedral, the major place of worship in the City of London. Historically, we also made grants to churches with which the Company had a particularly close association, such as St James’, Islington which received £150,000 in 1988 for repair of the fabric.

Church

17

St Paul’s Cathedral Foundation Total support £260,000 Construction of St Paul’s Cathedral began in 1675, with the final stone laid in 1708. The Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, is a symbol of London throughout the world. In 2000, the Cathedral launched a £40m campaign to clean and restore the building in time for the 300th anniversary of its completion in 2008. In addition, St Paul’s was looking to create a series of new vestments towards which we awarded £100,000 in 2004. Central Saint Martins Woven Textile students were invited to enter a competition for the commission to design the new vestments, which are worn by the Dean and Chapter at major services. The grant marked a long association with St Paul’s going back to mediaeval times when Guilds had chapels within the Cathedral; in 1632, the Clothworkers made a grant towards the previous cathedral’s restoration under Charles I and in 1876 the Company donated a bell, one of twelve given by the Great Twelve Livery Companies, which is still in use today. We also support a chorister at the Cathedral School.

Detail of vestment design

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 The Clothworkers have long been associated with the welfare of people who are blind, going back to the early eighteenth century when John West entrusted nine charities to the Company for this purpose. Over the past thirty five years, grants of more than £4m have been awarded in this area.

18

Visual Impairment Royal National College for the Blind Total support £170,000 The Royal National College for the Blind (RNCB) is a specialist residential further education college for people aged 16-65 who are blind or partially sighted. With over 140 years’ experience, the College still retains its original aim: to enable students to achieve their potential and engage fully in their community. Today, with more than 60 programmes of study available alongside a wide range of support for the 200 or so annual intake of students, the College ensures that they leave with confidence, ready for the world of work or higher education, and able to live independent lives. We made our first grant to the RNCB in 1881 and our £60,000 grant in 2009 was towards specialist technology equipment and furniture at their newly-completed, purposebuilt Assessment Centre, which is used to establish individual

£100m 1977-2012

learning, vocational and mobility needs prior to entry at the College.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


£100m 1977-2012 Reflecting the original roots of The Clothworkers’ Company in the craft of cloth finishing, the Foundation has been a major supporter of projects involving the preservation of textile heritage and textile conservation. Over the past ten years, we have made grants totalling more than £3m in this area.

19

Textiles Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford Total support £250,000 Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean is the oldest museum in Britain. Its collections span the civilizations of east and west. One of the museum’s best-kept secrets was its large collection of textiles. However, lack of space, insufficient environmental controls and unsuitable lighting conditions meant that only seven or so of the 4,000 items in the collection could be exhibited at any one time. A £250,000 grant in 2005 supported the creation of a new textiles gallery (part of a major redevelopment programme for the museum) designed to overcome these issues. The new gallery has enabled the Ashmolean’s internationallyimportant collection of textiles to be displayed for the first time; low-level lighting and climate controlled showcases

make it possible for fragile items to be exhibited with minimal risk to their condition and lifespan. The gallery tells the story of the making and meaning of textiles in the widest cultural setting. Fabrics have historically been amongst the most important manufactured goods to move between cultures. The Ashmolean’s textiles collections, with their strong Asian and Mediterranean components, demonstrate these crosscultural connections and, by displaying them together in one gallery, visitors are able to explore these fascinating stories and links with ease. Around 900,000 people visit the Ashmolean every year and the textiles gallery is one of its most popular attractions.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£100m 1977-2012


£100m 1977-2012 Education has featured in the Clothworkers’ philanthropy for centuries. The Company owned Sutton Valence School in Kent and Mary Datchelor School in Camberwell, and was an active supporter of young women’s education in the nineteenth century and a founder of the City & Guilds of London Institute. In more recent times, we have focused our support on tertiary education, in particular through Leeds University.

20

Education University of Leeds Total support £9,000,000 We have a longstanding relationship with the University of Leeds which dates back to its formation in the 19th century. Support in recent years has been via a number of major grants for the Centre for Technical Textiles and the Department of Colour Science. Earlier projects funded by us include the Clothworkers’ Textile Building (1880), the Clothworkers’ Dyeing Building (1885), and the Great Hall in 1894. In the late 1980s, the University had become increasingly concerned about the Great Hall and its associated buildings which had not been updated since their original construction. Believing that the Hall, which was used for ceremonial events, no longer projected a suitable image for such a leading institution, the University developed plans for its refurbishment. Our £1.25m grant in 1990 was for the restoration of the Great Hall in a style sympathetic to the original design. Not only were significant cosmetic changes made – including the restoration of plasterwork and stained glass windows – but major improvements were also made to the facilities within the Hall.

£100m 1977-2012

More than 20 years after the work was undertaken, the building and its improved facilities continue to provide highquality space which is fit for purpose, is used intensively, and is able to accommodate the dramatic increase in student numbers that has taken place over the period. In 2004, the centenary of the University’s foundation, we agreed a grant of £1.37m towards the renovation and upgrading of the Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall, which the Company’s support had helped create in the early 1970s. As a result, the University now has a stateof-the-art venue which benefits the community as well as the University.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Financial Summary 2012

Combined Financial Summary Information 2012 Year Ended 31 December 2012 £000

2011 £000

2,483 3,482 5,965

2,257 3,364 5,621

209

210

5,109 495 20 5,833

4,999 437 20 5,666

132 6,886

(45) (6,679)

7,018 110,401

(6,724) 117,125

Fund balances carried forward at 31 December

117,419

110,401

FIXED ASSETS Investments at market value

116,268

109,313

3,842 (2,456) 1,386

4,244 (2,565) 1,679

(235) 117,419

(591) 110,401

RESTRICTED FUNDS Permanent endowment Expendable endowment Members’ endowment

60,984 4,020 46

57,471 3,557 20

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS Designated General

51,002 1,367

48,064 1,289

117,419

110,401

INCOMING RESOURCES Donations and gifts Investment and rental income Total incoming resources

RESOURCES EXPENDED Costs of generating funds Charitable expenditure: Grants Support costs Governance costs Total resources expended Net incoming resources Gains on investment assets Net movement in funds Fund balances brought forward at 1 January

Current assets Creditors – due within one year NET CURRENT ASSETS Creditors - due after one year NET ASSETS

These figures combine the incoming and outgoing resources and assets and liabilities of The Clothworkers’ Foundation, the Clothworkers' Charity for Education, the Clothworkers’ Charity for Relief in Need, and the Clothworkers' Charity for Welfare of the Blind, and have been extracted from audited accounts of the charities. The full reports and accounts of the charities can be obtained from the Charity Commission website or the Chief Executive, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, Clothworkers’ Hall, Dunster Court, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7AH.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

21


Alcohol and Substance Misuse

22

Alcohol and Substance Misuse Inishfree “Before I came to Inishfree, I’d been drinking and using drugs for 20 years. I’ve been at Inishfee for about eight months now, and it’s been easily the longest period in my adult life that I’ve been completely free from both drink and drugs. There have been profound changes: I no longer start each day dreading it, I have rebuilt a strong connection with my sister who once refused to have anything to do with me and, although it’s early days yet, for the first time I’m feeling cautiously optimistic that I can do something positive with my life.” (Richard) Located in Gloucestershire, Inishfree offers safe accommodation, training and support for people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. People in recovery are supported to rebuild their lives and to integrate into the community through positive experiences and activities which enable them to form healthy relationships, gain skills, and

build confidence and self-esteem. They can sign up to a structured recovery programme for up two years, during which they receive different levels of support and training to prevent relapse and returning to the cycle of addiction. The programme includes a number of therapies and focuses mainly on gardening, landscaping, DIY and building, and animal husbandry on the charity’s smallholding. Work placements and volunteering opportunities with local businesses are also arranged, and help with housing offered to those who are ready to leave and live more independently. Inishfree runs a micro-enterprise selling and delivering high quality firewood from sustainable oak and ash off-cuts to local households. Our £10,000 grant was towards a new tipper pick-up truck for collecting and delivering the wood.

Open Road Visions Renovation of premises for a charity working with people affected by drug and alcohol addiction in Essex £20,000

Druglink Renovation of a drop-in centre for people affected by drug and alcohol addiction in Hertfordshire £15,000

Friend Counselling (London) Renovation of new building into a health, wellbeing and therapy centre for people who are LGBT(lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) £16,000

3 grants of £10,000 or less

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

Total

£76,400


Disabled People

Disabled People Blackfriars Settlement Blackfriars Settlement has been helping people in the deprived London Borough of Southwark since 1887. Originally established as the Women’s University Settlement, women from London colleges were invited to live at the Settlement rent free in exchange for their work in the community. Its aim was to promote the welfare of poor people in London, in particular women and children, by providing educational and recreational opportunities. In 1961, the charity changed its name to Blackfriars Settlement to acknowledge that men had increasingly become involved in its work. Today Blackfriars continues to support local people living with the effects of poverty and its manifestations via a range of activities and services including: providing opportunities for children and young people to enhance their abilities, and to develop key life, career and employment skills; a legal advice clinic on issues such as debt, employment and housing; a range of services for older people including exercise classes and arts activities; and

Chailey Heritage Foundation Conversion of a building into a life skills centre for young people who are disabled in East Sussex £100,000 Blackfriars Settlement Redevelopment of a new centre in London for people with mental health issues, elderly people, and young people from the local economically disadvantaged area £50,000

learning opportunities for people for whom English is their second language. It also provides a mental health and wellbeing service which focuses on supporting recovery and building the resilience of people with mental health problems. With the existing Blackfriars building no longer fit for purpose, they began a project to develop a new social housing complex and community centre. Our £50,000 grant, for the community centre element, was towards the purchase and installation of a lift, and towards the creation of a new room for use by the mental health and wellbeing service. The room will be used to run a range of activities such as IT, arts and crafts, graphic design, and vocational access classes for people with mental health needs. The room will also host a weekly drop-in service and a friendship group. We were pleased to support the project which will enable the charity to increase and develop activities and services to help people regain a meaningful life, despite serious mental health issues.

Dame Hannah Rogers Trust Conversion of a building to provide respite breaks for people who are disabled, and their families/carers, in Devon £50,000 Enham Construction of eight homes for people who are disabled in Hampshire £50,000

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

23


Disabled People

Hope for Tomorrow Building and equipping a mobile chemotherapy unit for cancer patients in Hampshire £40,000 Chilterns MS Centre Equipment for a hydrotherapy pool

24

£30,000

St Vincent’s and St George’s Association Refurbishment of a building for a charity supporting people who are disabled in Gloucestershire £30,000

Diverse Abilities Plus Purchase and conversion of a bungalow to provide accommodation for people who are disabled in Dorset £20,000 Lifelites IT equipment for use in five children’s hospices in Sunderland, Barnet, Middlesex, Liverpool and Coventry £20,000

Compaid Trust Specialist adapted vehicle to provide transport for people who are elderly or disabled in Kent £25,000

NewServol Refurbishment of premises for a charity supporting people who have mental health issues in the Birmingham area £20,000

Friends of Kingswode Hoe School Equipping an outreach centre for people who are disabled, their families, and their carers in Essex £25,000

Tabor Centre Accessible vehicle to transport people who are disabled in Essex £18,000

Great Yarmouth and Waveney Contact for Special Needs Help Construction of a new centre for children with learning difficulties £25,000

Friends of Milestone School Play areas for a school working with children with disabilities in Kent £17,000

Silver Birch (Scotland) Redevelopment of premises for a charity working with adults with learning disabilities £25,000 United Response Towards the Small Sparks Programme which provides small grants to help people who have learning difficulties to engage with their Community £25,000 Rainbow Centre for Conductive Education Towards Saturday clubs for children with cerebral palsy and other motor impairment disabilities £24,420 Orchardville Society Refurbishment of a bottle sorting plant and purchase of a forklift truck for a charity working with people who have learning disabilities in Antrim £21,000 Attend Equipping and furnishing two rooms to deliver training to people who have suffered brain injuries in London £20,000

St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth Purchase of a kitchen trolley lift for a hospice in Devon £15,000 Stagetext Three captioning display units to make arts events across London accessible to people who are deaf £15,000 Wac Arts Minibus to transport young people who are disabled in Camden £15,000 Sidestrand Hall School IT equipment for use at a special needs school in Norfolk £14,000 East Lancashire Deaf Society Minibus to provide transport for people who are deaf £13,000 Parkinson’s Self Help Group (North Lanarkshire) Refurbishment of premises for a charity working with people who have Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions £12,000

Birmingham Children’s Hospital Sensory garden for children who are sick or disabled £20,000

32 grants of £10,000 or less

Total

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

£970,420


Disadvantaged Minority Communities

Disadvantaged Minority Communities Half Moon Young People’s Theatre Since it was set up in 1990, the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre has provided a range of opportunities for disadvantaged young people in the deprived London Borough of Tower Hamlets to become involved, and participate, in high quality arts activities. Inclusive and accessible, the Half Moon engages with young people who are generally unable to access quality arts provision. A strong emphasis is placed on engaging young people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities who make up a large part of the local population, and who suffer significant deprivation. The Half Moon runs a range of participatory drama-based projects at their base, as well as in schools and community venues, with more than 700 participatory sessions, involving over 18,000 young people, delivered each year. They also put on vibrant, professional theatre productions which are well attended and valued by local young audiences, around 60% of whom come from BAME communities.

In 2008, the Half Moon purchased the building they occupied from the local authority at a greatly discounted rate with the help of an Arts Council grant. They have since started to make much-needed improvements to the building including to the entrance, which was cramped, and to the lift which, at more than 17 years old, was becoming increasingly unreliable. Our £30,000 grant was towards the installation of a new lift and enlarging the theatre foyer and entrance. We were pleased to offer our support towards this element of a larger redevelopment project which aims to ensure that the Half Moon is able to provide participatory young people’s theatre in Tower Hamlets for years to come.

North of England Refugee Service Refurbishment of premises for a charity working with asylum seekers, refugees and migrant communities in the North East £60,000

Making Communities Work and Grow Gym equipment for a charity working with BME and Arabic-speaking communities in Kensington and Chelsea £15,000

LifeLine Community Projects Fitting a foldable partition at a centre for young people and families from minority communities across Barking and Dagenham £40,000

16 grants of £10,000 or less

Half Moon Young People’s Theatre Renovation of premises and new lift for a theatre working with minority communities from disadvantaged areas across London £30,000

Total

£228,500

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

25


Disadvantaged Young People

Disadvantaged Young People 170 Community Project

26

Working in the deprived London Borough of Lewisham, 170 Community Project aims to improve the social conditions, health, employment, training and life skills of the local community. Services are targeted at people and groups often marginalised from mainstream economic, social and cultural opportunities. They include: legal and welfare advice; a health project covering healthy eating and nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation, and responsible alcohol use; women’s wellbeing and domestic violence projects; and a works project which supports those furthest from the labour market into employment.

We were pleased to award £44,000 to this innovative project which will provide much-needed services designed to benefit disadvantaged young people in Lewisham; our grant was for the purchase and fit-out of the bus.

170 wished to purchase and convert a single-decker bus into a mobile outreach facility, customised to engage and support young people aged 16-19 not in education, employment or training. To attract the young people, the bus will visit ‘hotspots’ frequented by them, and will offer information, advice and guidance sessions (including an informal job club) which aim to inspire them to access education, employment and training opportunities. There will also be a coffee bar on the bus with Wi-Fi facilities to ensure the attention and retention of young people. The bus sessions will be a stepping stone for young people to access a wider package of support from 170 and their partners working in the borough.

170 Community Project Purchase and conversion of a bus to run a mobile employment and careers support scheme for young people in south east London £44,000 KIND Renovation of a disused building into a health, wellbeing and exercise centre for vulnerable children and families in Liverpool £40,000 YMCA Norfolk Development of a housing unit in Norfolk for young people who are homeless £40,000 Wester Hailes Youth Agency Construction of an annexe to premises for a charity working with young people living in Edinburgh £33,000

Local Employment Access Projects (LEAP) Customised training and employability support for young people in North West London £29,240 Buttle UK Towards a child support programme which provides essential items for families with children living in economic deprivation £25,000 Preshal Trust New building for a charity working with young people in Glasgow £25,000 Barnsley YMCA New heating and hot water systems for a charity working with young people in Yorkshire £23,000

Exodus Project Renovation and conversion of premises into an activity centre for young people in South Yorkshire £30,000

Caldecott Foundation Construction of a specialist vocational learning centre for children with complex needs who are leaving the care system £20,000

West Faversham Community Association Equipment for a new community centre working with young people in Kent £30,000

Citizens Advice Bureau West Lothian Refurbishment of premises for a charity working with people who are unemployed £20,000

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Disadvantaged Young People

27

Media Trust Camera and sound equipment for a charity working with young people in London £19,000 Centre Thirty Three Young People’s Counselling and Information Service Refurbishment of a building to provide counselling, advice and information to young people who have mental health issues in Cambridge £15,000 It’s Your Choice Mobile unit to enable outreach work with young people from isolated communities in Hampshire £15,000

Oxfordshire Motor Project Three mud buggies and a minibus for a charity working with young people who are not in employment, education or training £13,000 NR5 Project Minibus for a charity working with young people living in isolated communities in Norfolk £12,500 Community Focus Inclusive Arts IT equipment for a charity working with young people living in Barnet £12,000 22 grants of £10,000 or less

Ray’s Playhouse Purchase and installation of outdoor play equipment and safety surfacing for a charity working with young people across south west London £15,000 Young Devon Renovation of premises for a charity working with young people living in isolated communities in Devon £15,000

Total

£610,320

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Domestic and Sexual Violence

Domestic and Sexual Violence Survive South Gloucestershire and Bristol “Without Survive, I’d probably be dead”. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and the girls, we will always remember you and all the good work you have done”. “Thank you!! I’m singing when I do the ironing now”. “I am free now, I feel free”.

28

Survive started in 1974 when a group of volunteers opened their first refuge. Almost 40 years later, Survive continue to support around 450 women and children to recover from their experiences of domestic violence and abuse. Survive provide a range of services including: ● Three refuges offering supported housing in a safe place, staffed by dedicated support workers, for up to 16 women and children at any one time

Survive also work closely with other agencies including the police and health services to improve the safety and wellbeing of service users, and to ensure a co-ordinated response. With demand for services increasing, and many women and children fleeing violence or abuse with only the clothes on their backs and no money for a taxi to a refuge, the charity needed a large vehicle to help resolve their transport issues. Our £12,000 grant enabled them to buy the vehicle which will be used to move women and children and their belongings to a refuge, to important appointments, and to Survive group sessions. We were pleased to offer our support to the project which will make access to Survive refuges and other services easier, more efficient and safer.

● Outreach support for women who do not need a refuge but still need help to move away from their situation ● The nationally recognised Freedom Programme, which uses group work to help women to understand and recognise their experiences of abuse, its impact on their children, and supports them to form healthy relationships ● Back on Track, a confidential support group for young people who have been affected by abuse or violence in the home ● A support line, run in partnership with the National Domestic Abuse Helpline

Stirling and District Women’s Aid Office refurbishment for a charity working with women survivors of domestic abuse £15,000

Survive South Gloucestershire and Bristol Vehicle for a charity working with women and children survivors of domestic violence £12,000

Trust Women’s Project Refurbishment of premises for a charity working with women involved in, or leaving, sex work £15,000

4 grants of £10,000 or less

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

Total

£76,500


Elderly People

Elderly People Age UK Lancashire Age UK Lancashire, part of the national Age UK group, works with and for older people in the county. They believe that later life should be valued and fulfilling, and the services and support they provide aim to: promote independence; enhance health and wellbeing; and enable older people to access the information they need to make informed decisions about their lives.

29

The range of services provided includes social, leisure and educational activities, visiting and befriending, day care, hospital discharge and housing support

as well as campaigning on behalf of older people on national and local issues. The charity wished to upgrade their existing Wellbeing Centre in order to increase their range of services supporting older people in continuing to live independently. Age UK Lancashire had provided services at their Wellbeing Centre for nine years. However, with increased demand and the existing facility no longer fit for purpose, they wanted to develop and improve the Centre to better meet the needs of elderly people using the facility; our £20,000 grant was to support this work. We have awarded almost £680,000 to 48 individual Age UK charities in the last ten years.

Bury Hospice Equipment for a new hospice

£30,000

Neighbourhood Action in Farnley, New Farnley and Moor Top Minibus for a charity working with elderly people in Leeds £29,000 St Mary’s Church Laisterdyke PCC Construction of a new community hall providing services for elderly people in Bradford £25,000 Supporting Friends (formerly Friends of the Elderly) Support for elderly people

£25,000

Age UK Lancashire Improvements to premises

£20,000

Age UK Lewisham and Southwark Renovation of a day care centre

£20,000

Burma Star Association Support for elderly people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are UK veterans, and their dependants £20,000 Florence Institute Trust Sports and recreation equipment for a charity providing services to elderly people, people from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with mental health or addiction issues in Merseyside £14,000 North Devon Hospice Adapted vehicle to provide transport for elderly people £11,000 9 grants of £10,000 or less

Total

£302,700

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Homelessness

Homelessness Ashley Foundation The Ashley Foundation has provided support and accommodation for homeless people for more than 25 years via six hostels in Blackpool and Blackburn with over 150 bed spaces, and a further eight ‘move on’ properties.

30

A dedicated team of support workers is based at each hostel. The teams help residents to take control of their lives by working with them to develop the skills needed for independent living and successfully sustaining their own tenancy, and to improve their support network once they are no longer accessing the charity’s services. The teams also work closely with specialist agencies such as mental health and probation services, drug and alcohol agencies, and debt management schemes to ensure the best possible outcomes for residents.

Ashley Foundation Renovation of accommodation to provide independent ‘move on’ units for adults who are homeless in Blackpool £65,000 Julian House Refurbishment of a night shelter for people who are homeless in Bath £45,000 South Tyneside Churches’ KEY Project Purchase of a property to provide accommodation for young people who are homeless £40,000 Surrey Community Development Trust Development of eight new flats for people who are homeless and vulnerable £30,000

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

Most people who become homeless feel isolated, often having lost all contact with family and friends. They arrive at the Ashley Foundation with increasingly complex needs; the core client group is single young people who have become homeless for a range of reasons including relationship breakdown, debt, release from prison, alcohol and/or substance misuse, and/or mental health issues. Having purchased a building which will provide additional ‘move on’ accommodation for clients assessed as ready to move from a hostel into more independent supported-living housing, the property was in need of renovation. We awarded £65,000 towards the renovation which, when complete, will support nine vulnerable homeless adults in Blackpool, helping them on the road to independent living.

Roundabout Renovation of a hostel for young people who are homeless in Sheffield £25,000 Emmaus Coventry and Warwickshire New van for a charity working with people who are homeless in the West Midlands £24,000 Launchpad Reading Purchase and installation of CCTV systems for a charity working with people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless £20,000 7 grants of £10,000 or less Total

£297,000


Prisoners and ex-offenders

31

Prisoners and Ex-Offenders No Way Trust The No Way Trust is a national educational charity set up in 1995 by prison officers who wanted to make an impact on the lives of young people and turn them away from crime and its consequences using innovative educational techniques. The core aim is to raise awareness amongst young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime, and the effects of antisocial behaviour. Working mainly with young people aged 8-18 in schools located in deprived areas, the charity’s services are designed to help reduce or remove the possibility of offending behaviour. Services include crime safety awareness workshops, covering issues such as anti-social behaviour, gun and knife crime, and staying safe online. One workshop involves a serving (released under licence) or ex-inmate, sharing their experiences of prison life. The Trust also runs a workshop which takes place in a mobile vehicle, converted to look like a real prison cell. The cell vehicle even has audio to replicate the sounds often heard in a prison setting such as clanking doors. Carried out by current or retired prison officers, the

workshop offers an insight into what prison life is like. With one of their vehicles nearing the end of its life, we were pleased to award a grant of £15,000 to enable them to purchase a quality second-hand replacement and convert it into a mobile prison cell facility to deliver their innovative workshops to young pupils.

Fine Cell Work Towards the development and planning of the Fine Cell Works Hub project, a pilot social enterprise providing training in needlework to ex-prisoners £40,000 No Way Trust Purchasing and equipping a ‘mobile cell’ vehicle for a national charity which provides educational services to young people who are at risk of offending £15,000 6 grants of £10,000 or less Total

£103,500

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Visual Impairment

Visual Impairment BlindAid

32

BlindAid has been providing services to blind and visuallyimpaired people for more than 175 years. Founded in 1834 by Lord Shaftesbury and Thomas Rhodes Armitage, it was initially called the Indigent Blind Visiting Society (IBVS) which was founded to “bring spiritual as well as bodily sustenance” to poor Londoners disadvantaged and isolated by loss of sight. Armitage, one of the founders of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, introduced Braille into England. In 1929, the IBVS merged with a number of other institutions, societies and agencies for the blind in London to become Metropolitan Society for the Blind, keeping this name until 2011 when it was renamed BlindAid.

rights; information, advice and support for patients attending ophthalmic clinics at St Thomas’s Hospital; telephone support; radios and specialist audio equipment for their 500 plus service users; and small grants (for items such as clocks, mobile phones and microwaves which talk, and specialist IT equipment) to blind and visually-impaired people on low incomes. We have been supporting BlindAid in its various forms since the 1870s; the charity currently receives an annual grant of £40,000, subject to a review each year, to enable it to make small grants to improve the quality of life of visually-impaired people in London. It is one of a small number of organisations selected by the Foundation to receive regular funding for distribution to individuals in need. Our support for the BlindAid grants scheme has totalled more than £330,000 in the last ten years alone.

Today, BlindAid’s core service is home visiting. They also provide advice on welfare

St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Purchase of Anterior Tomography System which performs a fast, accurate, non-invasive assessment of the front of the eye £44,500

Reading Association for the Blind Minibus for a charity working with people who are blind and partially-sighted in Berkshire £15,000 4 grants of £10,000 or less

Blind Aid Grants for blind and visually-impaired people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds £40,000 St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Grant for general funds Blind Aid Pensions to visually-impaired people

Total

£169,700

Other £30,000 King’s College London Intercalated BSc bursaries to medical students.

£30,000

UCL Medical School Intercalated BSc bursaries to medical students

£30,000

£21,000

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Proactive Grants Programme

33

Visual Impairment in Africa We researched a number of possible themes for a proactive overseas initiative, eventually deciding on the area of visual impairment. Following a tendering process, we have awarded a grant of £366,000 to Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) for a five-year project which will increase and improve access to eye care in three districts of Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province. The project involves setting up and equipping Vision Centres – which offer walk-in eye examinations, affordable spectacles and referrals to further specialist eye care if needed – at three government hospitals. VAO already has considerable experience running Vision Centres, having previously set them up in five other African countries, and in India. An outreach programme will also be developed, with specific efforts made to target those in the poorest rural areas where access to healthcare is most limited, and women who, despite making up the majority of those with avoidable visual impairment, do not generally have equal access to healthcare. VAO will work in partnership with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation to develop a sustainable primary healthcare service in the region, and will provide up to 130,000 eye tests and dramatically increase the availability of eye care services. All funds for this proactive overseas initiative have now been committed. We have also made a small number of overseas grants under the Regular Grants Programme and from the Livery Fund; these programmes are not open to applications.

Vision Aid Overseas To set up and equip a Vision Centre in three districts of Eastern Province, Sierra Leone over five years, and to provide training for twelve Optometry Technicians to work at the Vision Centres and to undertake outreach activities £366,000

Overseas Medical Emergency Relief International Charitable Trust (MERLIN) Rapid response assistance in emergency and crisis situations £50,000 RedR Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief Towards the Disaster Risk Reduction training project in southern Pakistan which works to ensure that communities are prepared for a natural disaster £30,000 Microloan Foundation To support 1,200 Malawian women living in poverty to develop sustainable trading businesses £25,200

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Proactive Grants Programme

34

Conservation Now in its fifth year, the conservation programme has been extended to 2015 with an additional £750,000, bringing the total allocation to £2m. The aim of the programme remains to ensure that ‘at risk’ conservation skills are preserved and that the influence of the sector is improved. Our interest is in ‘moveable heritage’ and excludes the natural environment.

human remains; Courtauld Institute of Art (£65,000 in 2011) for the conservation and study of a major painting by Gerino da Pistoia; Pitt Rivers Museum (£80,000 in 2011) for the conservation of the Cook Voyage Collection; and Tate (£80,000 in 2009) for research into, and conservation of, British paintings from 1530 to 1790.

An integral part of the programme is our support for the Institute of Conservation (ICON), the lead voice for the conservation of cultural heritage in the UK; our 2008 £180,000 grant pays for the cost of their Chief Executive for five years. ICON’s membership embraces the wider conservation community, incorporating not only professional conservators in all disciplines, but all others who share a commitment to improving understanding of, and access to, our cultural heritage. In April 2012, ICON published its National Conservation Education and Skills Strategy to shape conservation education for the next five years. Endorsed by the conservation sector, work on implementing the strategy, which aims to foster a successful learning and research environment that delivers the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be needed in the future, is underway.

Further conservation fellowships will be awarded every year for the next three years, subject to applications of a sufficiently high quality being received.

The conservation fellowship is a competitive scheme enabling public institutions to apply for up to £80,000 over two years for a senior conservator (employed by them) to pursue a research project. The 2012 £80,000 conservation fellowship was awarded to Glasgow Museums for research into, and conservation of, 15th century stained glass windows from the Carmelite Church at Boppard-on-Rhine in Germany. The two-year project will be an important contribution to stained glass research and conservation internationally. It brings the total number of fellowships awarded since the scheme was launched in 2009 to five. The other awards have been to the: British Museum (£38,000 in 2011) for the research, conservation and storage of naturally-mummified

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2

We supported 35 qualified conservators to attend relevant conferences and events via our continuing professional development scheme which provides bursaries of up to £1,000. The wide range of courses attended during the year included integrated pest management at West Dean College in Chichester, the International Institute of Conservation Congress on The Decorative: Conservation and the Applied Arts in Vienna, and colour studies at the University of Glasgow. We funded internships at the National Galleries of Scotland (£29,000 for photographic conservation), and our second one at the Victoria and Albert Museum (£30,000 for the conservation of portrait miniatures), the first being in upholstery conservation in 2010. We have so far funded 14 internships in a wide range of conservation disciplines including collection care at the Museum of London, arms and armoury at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, paintings and frames at Guildhall Art Gallery, taxidermy at the Horniman Museum, and textiles at Historic Royal Palaces at Hampton Court. Two equipment grants were awarded. The first, for £48,000, was to the University of Oxford for a portable scanning electron microscope (SEM) for use by their Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art. When not


Proactive Grants Programme

35

being used by students at the University, the SEM will be used by AMTeC (a not-forprofit co-operative dedicated to the investigation, care, reproduction and presentation of archaeological artefacts and ancient technology) and CSI: Sittingbourne (a unique community project which works with volunteer members of the public to conserve archaeological objects). The second equipment grant was

£25,000 to City and Guilds of London Art School towards the fit-out and furnishing of their conservation studios.

Glasgow Museums (Conservation Fellowship) Research into and conservation of 15th century stained glass windows from the Carmelite Church at Boppard-onRhine, Germany £80,000

Natural History Museum To develop the first year of a training network in natural history conservation £28,000

University of Oxford – Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art Portable scanning electron microscope £48,000 Victoria and Albert Museum Internship in the conservation of portrait miniatures £30,000 National Galleries of Scotland Internship in photographic conservation

£29,000

Finally, we awarded £28,000 to the Natural History Museum (NHM) to support them in setting up the first year of a training network in natural history conservation for existing collections management staff and newly qualified/trained conservators who wish to develop their knowledge and understanding of the care and conservation of natural history collections. The project will involve the NHM collaborating with other regional and national museums working in natural history conservation by bringing together expertise from each, with the aim of developing a standardised training syllabus to be delivered at participating museums.

City and Guilds of London Institute Art School Fit-out and furnishing of a new conservation studio £25,000 International Institute for Conservation Production of preprints for the IIC Congress in Vienna £20,000 Conservation bursaries Bursaries for travel, accommodation and fees to enable conservation professionals to attend courses and conferences to further their career development £18,000 Total: £277,975

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Proactive Grants Programme

Autism The autism sector has seen a number of important developments since we launched our proactive autism programme in 2007, not least the introduction of the Autism Act 2009 and the Adult Autism Strategy.

With the CRAE project working on early detection and intervention, we looked next to supporting transition to adulthood via our £200,000 grant to Ambitious about Autism, which will see them establish a College to support young people with autism in the transition stages to supported living, social, leisure and employment opportunities.

We awarded our final proactive grant in autism to the National Autistic Society in 2012 (£217,000) for a project on autism and ageing, an underresourced area about which little is currently known and which receives limited professional attention. The NAS project will address this by improving awareness and understanding of practical support for older people with autism. The project will design and undertake a large-scale survey on autism and ageing and produce a practical guide for autism professionals. In addition, it will raise the profile of the issue at a national and local level by holding two Westminster Round Tables with key decision-makers, and a conference on autism and ageing. A campaign report will also be produced. With the autism budget now fully committed, we will commission an external evaluation of the programme to look at the extent of its success in 2013. Despite the conclusion of the autism programme, we will continue to be able to fund capital projects for autism charities via our reactive programmes (under the Disabled People category).

Photos: The National Autistic Society

36

A key grant during the five-year life of the programme has been to the Centre for Research in Autism Education (CRAE) at the Institute of Education. Working in partnership with Ambitious about Autism, the North national charity for children and East young people with autism, CRAE Autism seeks to improve the outcomes for Society people with autism by enhancing the research evidence for effective interventions, education and outcomes for children and young people with autism. Our £700,000 grant was to help establish the Centre over the first five years.

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Proactive Grants Programme

Kingswood Trust

37

During 2012 we made two major capital grants to autism charities from the Main Grants Programme. The first was to the North East Autism Society (NEAS) which has been providing activities and services for people with autism in the North East for more than 30 years. Our £200,000 grant was towards the construction of a new £9m purpose-built multifunctional centre which will greatly increase their reach and allow them to provide services across the region.

The second capital grant was the £50,000 awarded to the Kingwood Trust which specialises in providing supported living services for people with autism. They have developed a new model of care, based on purpose-built residential accommodation, for young school leavers with autism making the transition from education to adult life. Kingwood College will provide full-time training and education programmes to a small group of young people with autism aged 18-25. Our grant was towards the construction of the College.

National Autistic Society Autism and ageing project which will raise the profile and awareness of the issue of autism and ageing at a local and national level £217,000

Autism Wessex Purchasing and equipping a house for four adults with autism £20,000

North East Autism Society Refurbishment of a disused secure unit in Durham to create a centre for people with autism £200,000 Kingwood Trust Construction of residential college accommodation in Berkshire for young people with autism making the transition to adulthood £50,000

Hampshire Autistic Society Conversion of a disused building into a learning resource centre £20,000

Total

£557,000

Mathematics Education Although the mathematics programme ended in 2011, our support for mathematics has continued on a smaller scale via a £50,000 grant to the Royal Institution for mathematics masterclasses. As a fitting end to the programme, we were pleased to learn that, as a result of our 2010 £60,000 grant to Maths in Education and Industry to pilot a curriculum development project, they secured £275,000 government funding from the

Department for Education to develop a new post-16 curriculum in mathematical and statistical problem solving.

Royal Institution of Great Britain Grants to state schools in disadvantaged areas to access enrichment and engagement opportunities in maths £50,000

T H E C L OT H W O R K E R S ’ F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 1 2


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.