Associated Foundations

Learning-through-Play empowers children to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners and develop the holistic skills that serve them, their communities and society throughout a lifetime. The LEGO Foundation is working to change the hearts and minds of those who influence children’s lives, through programmes, research and advocacy, to make sure they embrace the transformative power of play.

As part of the ongoing commitment to giving children better opportunities to reach their full potential, the owner family has entrusted the LEGO Foundation with 25% ownership of the LEGO Group and it is primarily through this ownership that the LEGO Foundation funds its activities.

For the second year running, the LEGO Foundation announced a humanitarian grant of USD 100 million to be paid out over the coming years. In 2019, the donation was awarded to the International Rescue Committee and went to support close to one million children, caregivers and teachers affected by crises in Ethiopia and Uganda to ensure that children aged 3-12 years still have the opportunity to learn through play and develop the skills needed to thrive. The LEGO Foundation started new partnerships to scale up playful parenting in Bhutan, Guatemala, Rwanda, Serbia, and Zambia. It also initiated a research study investigating how playful learning can contribute to developing teacher and educator training programmes in collaboration with the University Colleges in Denmark.

Total grant commitments and expenses for the LEGO Foundation amounted to DKK 2,039 million in 2019 (2018: DKK 1,310 million).

Ole Kirk’s Fond is a charitable foundation and its purpose is to improve the quality of life of children and their families. A caring approach and the right of all children to be children were key motivators for LEGO® founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen. Ole Kirk’s Fond was established in his memory and to fulfil the values and the caring philosophy that he represented.

Ole Kirk’s Fond supports cultural, church-related, humanitarian and educational purposes, and has a dedicated focus on the social area, in which five focus areas have been identified in 2019: Children as relatives to sick parents; children in families with alcohol and drug abuse; vulnerable families with new born children and toddlers; children and young people failing to thrive, and children exposed to violence and abuse. One of the projects that Ole Kirk’s Fond supported within the social area in 2019 addresses the lack of systematic and uniform help for children growing up as relatives to mentally ill parents. An estimated 70% of children in this position does not receive any help. The project named “Ask the Children” is carried out in a partnership with the Danish Mental Health Foundation and Children’s Welfare, and it aims to ensure that all children will get equal rights and access to support.

In 2016, Ole Kirk’s Fond joined forces with the Capital Region of Denmark and Rigshospitalet to build a new public hospital called ‘BørneRiget’ that sets new standards for the treatment of children, adolescents, pregnant women and their families. In 2019, the partners in the project, together with engineers and architects, have further developed the building plans for the project and the preparation of the building site has begun.

Ole Kirk’s Fond also supported the building of a new children’s hospice in Western Denmark, ‘Strandbakkehuset’, where families with children facing serious or terminal illness can stay and get respite during a difficult time in their lives. The first sod for the construction was cut in October and the hospice will have room for four families when it is expected to open in November 2020.

Donations from Ole Kirk’s Fond amounted to DKK 134 million in 2019 (2018: DKK 133 million).

Foundation has supported the construction of this new enclosure, in which the stable will be the largest of its kind in Europe. The elephants will move into the new facilities in June 2020.

The QATO Foundation also supported Dyrenes Beskyttelse’s Animal Nature School. The project is targeted at children, who learn to understand and care for typical pet animals and go on excursions out into local nature, where they learn about Danish wildlife.

The QATO Foundation is an independent charitable foundation that works to improve animal welfare. With a special focus on animals that are in human custody, QATO Foundation supports the creation of longterm and sustainable solutions to fight the problems that cause poor animal welfare.

Working internationally and with many different animal species, projects supported by the QATO Foundation are diverse. Theese include: Scientific studies to increase the understanding of animal behavior and health: projects run by animal welfare organisations to support animals in urgent need of help: and projects to educate children as the next generation of animal caretakers, to create empathy for animals and a profound understanding of their needs.

In 2019, the QATO Foundation supported the relocation of four Danish circus elephants. A proposed national act prohibiting wild animal performance in circuses, sent the four elephants on retirement. As the elephants are unable to go back to a life in the wild, it was decided to build a state-of-the-art elephant enclosure in the Danish zoo, Knuthenborg Safaripark. QATO