The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

founded in England in 1961. It is one of the larger independent grant-making foundations based in the UK, funding organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in that country.

History

The charity was founded in 1961 by Ian Fairbairn, a pioneer of

unit trust A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on ...

investments, and named for his second wife who was killed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Her sons Paul and Oliver Stobart were co-founders. The endowment gave the charity 33% of the shares in the M&G fund management company, and a regular income. This ended when M&G was sold to Prudential Corporation in 1999, but the sale allowed alternative investments that increased the income of the charity.Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
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Aims

The foundation funds projects in the arts, education and learning, the environment and social change. The charity gives £20–40 million annually in grants or investments towards conservation work, community energy projects, national parks and biodiversity work. The charity initially funded projects to increase understanding and research in economics, as well as social welfare. This included lectures, research fellowships and professorial chairs in the area of economics and mathematics. Examples include the annual Esmée Fairbairn Lecture at the University of Lancaster, an Esmée Fairbairn Junior Research Fellowship in Mathematics at New College, Oxford and the Esmée Fairbairn Chair of Finance at the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

from 1966 to 1976. In the 1970s the charity began to fund projects in the arts, environment and heritage as well. It now focuses on areas where other funders are unlikely to be available. This includes novel and more risky projects. It may provide core funding and loans rather than grants. The foundation also initiates some projects such as "Rethinking Crime & Punishment" in 2002–2005. In 2020, as a response to structural inequality, climate change and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

, the charity changed its strategy to providing longer-term support to predetermined areas rather than responding to requests. The objective was to ensure it achieved as much as it could with its resources and access, in particular collaborating with other like-minded organisations.

Administration

As income from the charity's endowment and the number of grants grew in the 1990s, the number of trustees was increased and administrative staff were appointed. An investment committee was also required, after the initial endowment was sold. Since 2008 the charity has made some social investments. Trustees include Sir Jonathan Phillips (chair, from 2019), Tom Chandos, Joe Docherty, John Fairbairn, Beatrice Hollond,

Thomas Hughes-Hallett Sir Thomas Michael Sydney Hughes-Hallett (born 28 August 1954) is a British barrister, investment banker and philanthropy executive. He serves as the Non-Executive Chair of the Marshall Institute at the London School of Economics and the Che ...

Kate Lampard Kathryn Felice Lampard, Baroness Lampard, (born 20 April 1960) is an English former barrister. She undertook a number of senior non executive roles within the National Health Service, including chairing SouthEast Coast Strategic Health Authori ...

, William Sieghart,

Eleanor Updale Eleanor Updale (born 1953) is an English fiction writer, best known for the Victorian-era London thriller '' Montmorency'' (2003) and its sequels, the Montmorency series, which feature the namesake fictional character, Montmorency. Personal ...

and Edward Bonham-Carter. Past chairs were

Jeremy Hardie Charles Jeremy Mawdesley Hardie (known as Jeremy Hardie) (born 9 June 1938), CBE is a British economist and businessman. Personal life Hardie, the son of Sir Charles Hardie, was born in 1938 and went to school at Winchester College before studyi ...

from 2003 to 2007, Tom Chandos and then

James Hughes-Hallett James Wyndham John Hughes-Hallett, CMG, SBS (10 September 1949 – 12 October 2019) was a British businessman and investor. He was Chairman of the Swire Group between 2005 and 2015. His sister is the author Lucy Hughes-Hallett. Hughes-Hallett d ...

until 2019. Edgar Palamountain was appointed in 1980 as the charity's first director (part-time) and was succeeded by Sir Robert Andrew in 1989. Margaret Hyde was appointed as director in 1994 and then

Dawn Austwick Dawn Jacquelyn Austwick, (born December 1960) was the chief executive (CEO) of the Big Lottery Fund from October 2014 to 2020. Education Austwick was educated at Royal High School, Bath, followed by a bachelor's degree from London University ...

was chief executive officer from 2008 to 2014 and was succeeded by Caroline Mason.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esmee Fairbairn Charitable Trust Foundations based in the United Kingdom 1961 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities based in London Organizations established in 1961 Fairbairn family