Generous support from Trusts and Foundations
Every charity depends on donations from generous individuals, businesses or companies. In addition, grant funders like local government bodies, and charity Trusts and foundations, are an invaluable help.
Below, with most recent at the top, is a list of our grant funders. Each makes our existence and progress possible. We are grateful for every one.
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The Mary Jackson Will Trust was created from the estate of Newcastle-upon-Tyne resident Mary Jackson. The Trust donates to charitable causes at the discretion of its Trustees, Anthony and Susan Nield. Also originally from Newcastle, now local residents of St Ives, the Nields are keen to fund organisations that provide for the health & wellbeing of the most vulnerable, challenged and defenceless among us.
The Garfield Weston Foundation has once again awarded us a generous grant, this time helping to cover our running costs over a two-year period.
Sport England invests more than £250 million of National Lottery and government funding annually to support the improvement of physical health and wellbeing in England. Their generous grant of a year’s funding for 3 new yoga classes at the Centre has helped us expand our variety of classes to appeal to a broader base of community members.
The Fat Beehive Foundation helps small UK-registered charities improve digital presence and accessibility. Thanks to a grant from to improve the online accessibility of our services, we now have a new integrated events calendar system which shows all our services and events in one place, making it easier for our community members to plan their health, wellbeing and community activities at the Centre.
The LHC Procurement Group‘s Community Benefit Fund delivers social value to communities. In Cornwall, it is managed by Locality. Their grant to us has allowed us to refurbish our walled garden as a wellness space for community members’ use, where classes can also be held when weather allows. Its raised beds will also provide vegetables for the use of our strategic partner, the St Ives Food Bank, and opportunities for teaching our community members about planting and growing.
The Norman Family Trust provides funding for West country charities, community groups and schools. Set up in 1979 by Mr W K Norman after he sold and retired from his Cash & Carry business and wanted repay the local support of his customers, the Trust especially favours smaller, local charities.
In late 2024 we were one of 3 local charities nominated for the Co Op Community Fund grant. Thanks to votes from our community members, in October 2025 we were awarded the largest grant in our locality! This has helped with core funding, including utilities and general upkeep.
The Co-op has also awarded us two unexpected bonuses, and often donates to refreshments for our events.
In August 2025 we were once again awarded a grant by the The National Lottery Community Fund. (See below for the first, a contribution to our start-up costs.) This much larger grant contributes to our core costs as well as paying for 2 part-time staff members who provide business support and maintenance/caretaking.
The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family founded grant-maker supporting a wide range of charities across the UK. They donate an incredible total of around £100 million each year.
They are one of the few foundations who support running costs as well as specific projects. Their generous grant has been a tremendous help in covering our day-to-day overheads.
The St. Ives Town Deal board is part of St. Ives Town Council. This government-funded grant is distributed by Cornwall Council. It paid for renovations and repairs, enabling more service provision for the community.
The Albert Hunt Trust supports a wide variety of health and well-being causes. In late 2025 we received a second generous grant from them – the first having come in 2024 – which will help enormously with running costs as we expand into our next phase of growth.
The support of Volunteer Cornwall allows us to offer community workshops at no cost to participants. Examples have included our weekly Crochet & Craft group and a variety of training sessions.
The Antony Estate belongs to the Carew-Pole family. Their Carew Pole Charitable Trust focuses on projects that help people in need, in particular those aiming to have long-term impact. Priority is given to causes in Cornwall.
The Baltic Exchange Charitable Foundation usually provides grants for maritime services. Sir Edward Hain was a member, as was his son Capt. Edward “Teddy” Hain, whose name the original hospital, and now the Centre, memorialises. He is listed on the Exchange’s 1914-1918 Honour Roll. They very kindly voted us a discretionary grant in his memory.
Cornwall Community Foundation‘s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) grant helps pay our core funding costs. It is distributed by Cornwall’s Voluntary Sector Forum (VSF).
St. Ives Town Council’s Community Organisations Core Funding Grant: This grant helped us with running costs in our crucial start-up period.
Cornwall Council‘s Community Chest gives small grants to not-for-profit groups across Cornwall. Each Councillor has a small budget to support projects in their area. We are lucky enough to have received two of these to contribute to core running costs. The first was from Cllr. Linda Taylor ; the second from Cllr. Andrew Mitchell.
The National Lottery Community Fund‘s Awards For All was the first grant we received, in August 2023. It included funding for our Open Weekend launch in September, and startup costs.
