There are many different pathways to giving, and there is no single image of what a philanthropist looks like.
Strategy and decision making are a crucial part of giving. We speak to philanthropists of all types about the highs and lows they faced on their journeys.
If you’d like to contribute a story, please get in touch.
On 8th April 2020, Richard Lissack received a call from a former client, Michaela Willis MBE. Known for her previous leadership of the National Bereavement Partnership (NBP), Michaela had been receiving calls from NHS key workers, asking her to re-ignite the charity and open the national helpline, in the way she had done previously.
The Oglesby Charitable Trust is a family trust primarily active in the North of England. Current trustees are family members of the founders, Jean Oglesby and the late Micheal Oglesby, including his daughter, Kate Vokes, who chairs the trustee board.
John Stares investment in launching the COVID Action Network highlights the role philanthropists can play in supporting innovation – in this case, using technology to enable agile partnership.
Being ready to offer a rapid response takes time and an open mindset. It is precisely because Mark Davies has an established relationship with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust that he was able to pick up the phone and ask what they needed as soon as the COVID-19 crisis hit in the UK.
What do you do when your group has raised £2.5 million and built a community centre and the world goes into lockdown? The answer from Marjorie and Dine Glasgow is to transform it into a centre for community volunteering.
Ask Richard Ross what has been the response of the Rosetrees Trust to Covid-19 and he replies: “It has taken 30 years of work to be in the right position to respond rapidly to this crisis.”
On-the-ground-knowledge is vital in times of crisis. The Scott family trusts have been active across Cumbria and North Lancashire for more than a hundred years. They know the territory; yet when faced with the scale of the challenge created by COVID-19 in their communities, they recognised the need to work with others.
On 18 March, the same day that schools closed in the UK, the Indigo Trust announced grants of £2.5 million linked to Covid-19. Will and Fran Perrin, founders of the Indigo Trust, were able to fund fast because of their experience and network across the UK philanthropy sector.
The Beacon Collaborative