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Background
As a successful commercial organisation, the St. James's Place Wealth Management Group believes it has a responsibility to apply some of its profits and energy for the benefit of less fortunate members of society. To this end, the St. James's Place Foundation was established in 1992, funded during the first seven years entirely by members of the Partnership and employees of the Group.
Fundraising
In 1999, the shareholders of St. James's Place agreed that, in future, the Company should match, pound for pound, all monies raised by Partners and Staff with an upper limit of £500,000 per annum. In 2001, this resulted in the funds raised exceeding £1 million in a year for the first time, an accomplishment that was repeated in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The matching upper limit has been increased each year and in 2007 stands at £800,000. In total more than £10 million has been raised.
In addition to group events, individuals also push themselves to the limit in an effort to raise as much sponsorship as possible from their contacts and clients. The challenges taken up include: the Sahara Marathon, a 12-team all day Triathlon, a 12-Peaks Mountaineering Challenge, 3 Marathons in 3 different countries in 3 weeks, Cross Channel Swims, 14,000 feet skydives and many more.
We are very proud of the fact that 82% of the St. James's Place community of 1,600 people make regular monthly donations to the Foundation through Gift Aid. This demonstrates the commitment to the Foundation throughout the Company at every level. Every pound raised by members of the
St. James's Place community is matched by the Company and in 2006 we raised a total of £1.8 million of new funds for the Foundation.
Supporting the Foundation's fundraising activities is a key corporate objective. The management team, from the top down, focuses on this aspect of the Company's business, in much the same way as it does on other key corporate objectives.
At the present our two themes are "Cherishing the Children" and "The Hospice Movement".
Cherishing the Children
Any UK charity with a turnover of less than £400,000 that has a project that will provide directly for young people (under the age of 25) within the UK who suffer from physical or mental health difficulties or conditions, or a life threatening or degenerative illness can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 from the Foundation. For details on the guidelines applying to grants, please click here, for an application form, please click here.
The Hospice Movement
The Foundation makes grants of up to £10,000 to hospices in the UK for items such as equipment, the cost of therapy and other treatments. For details on the guidelines applying to grants, please click here, for an application form, please click here.
In addition to the grants awarded under the "themes", and largely as a result of the additional monies available to the Foundation from Company matching, the Foundation has formed a long term relationship with Hope & Homes for Children, a UK-based charity, which provides family homes and other support for children orphaned by war or disaster. More than £2.1 million in total has been given to Hope & Homes for Children in the last 5 years.
We also entered into an arrangement with the Variety Club of Great Britain to fund 21 Sunshine Coaches for children with disabilities at special schools / organisations located near each of the Company's offices. This entailed a commitment approaching £400,000 in all.
Help the Hospices is the umbrella organisation for independent hospices in the UK. In March 2004, the Foundation and Help the Hospices joined forces to bring hospice and palliative care to non-cancer patients and their families. Many hospices do not currently have the expertise or experience to care for people with illnesses other than cancer, a gap in the provision that our partnership aims to redress. This will be a three-year, £800,000 project.
The Foundation has just started new relationships with Teenage Cancer Trust and CIDA - with an initial commitment of approximately £200,000 to both organisations. Teenage Cancer Trust aim to open 21 units around the UK for teenagers with cancer - they currently have 8 units. Each unit costs in the region of £1.5 million. CIDA is a University in South Africa run by the students. CIDA has implemented formal programmes that require students to give back to their home community.
In total, over £7.9 million has been given in grants to all causes since the Foundation was established just over 13 years ago and its proud of what's been achieved in that time. We look forward to the challenge of sustaining and increasing its growth so that even more people may benefits from its success.
Registered charity number 1031456
