10 May 2011
Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company, has launched The Royal London Foundation to help people in communities around the UK. Working in partnership with Community Foundation Network, the aim of the foundation is to provide grants to community organisations and charities which could benefit from their support.
The Foundation is focusing on three issues:
- Education - causes whose objectives are to help develop the skills of people who require assistance and do not otherwise have access to appropriate support
- Elderly - causes which help older people who require assistance in their daily lives
- Health - causes that provide health and fitness activities to those who might not otherwise have access to such facilities
Members of Royal London are able to nominate a voluntary or community group tackling these issues to be considered for a grant of £1,000, £3,000, £5,000 or £10,000. Additionally, each year the ‘Degge and Ridge Award’ - a larger grant of £25,000 - will be awarded. In the Foundation’s first year, the focus for this award is on supporting the elderly.
Stephen Shone, Group Finance Director of Royal London and executive sponsor of the Foundation, commented:
“We’re very excited to be launching The Royal London Foundation for the benefit of our members and the communities in which they live. It will be a great way for Royal London members to support local causes. A lot of the issues that concern people today can only be addressed by supporting change from within local communities.
”Using the expertise of community foundations to help identify beneficiaries and manage funds is one of the best ways to make sure that our financial support can make a real difference at a local level.
“We chose to work with CFN as they were able to offer us flexibility to ensure the Foundation can operate in an efficient and cost effective way, which will truly benefit our members and the causes close to their hearts.”
Lesley Talbot, Director of Programmes & Development, Community Foundation Network said:
“We are delighted to be working with The Royal London Foundation to help members find ways to put something back into the community. This is using community foundations at their best, by identifying effective community organisations and charities which could benefit from The Royal London Foundation’s support.”