Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust

Who we are

The Bernard Lewis Family Charitable Trust (BLFCT) has been an independent charity since 2008. The Trust is run by Bernard Lewis and his family. Funding for the Trust comes from the various family businesses.

Impact-lead approach

The defining principle of any funding decision BLFCT makes is that it is driving positive social impact. It doesn’t mean we don’t take risks or that we are afraid to fail, but the possibility of creating positive social impact must be the very first consideration with any grant.

In many cases impact is established and defined which allows charities to measure and communicate it clearly. We build relationships with our charity partners to make sure that we understand impact levels and can add additional support if we see opportunities to help them deliver further impact.

In some cases impact is harder to measure and clarify, especially for newer organisations. The relationship approach we take allows us to appreciate this and to understand where impact is occurring in a less clear way or where it is likely to result from continued activity. We are happy to consider funding these situations, often helping organisations to achieve proof of concept and access wider funding routes and ultimately to achieve even greater impact.

Flexible

We recognise our position in the funding hierarchy and that, as a family trust, we have an innate flexibility that some other funders don’t have. We try to lean into this and leverage it so as to work best for our partners.

Trust-based

We seek to work alongside organisations that we trust to manage our funding most effectively. We don’t ask for long reports, feel a need to make regular visits or be consulted on operational decisions. We recognise that we are the experts on providing the funding but that our partners are the experts on delivering the impact.

Partnership

Our aim with any grant is to see if we can build a long-term trusted partnership. We actively seek out partners who we think are creating positive impact and who we believe we can work with for years and across many grant cycles. We like the principles set out in IVAR’s 8 commitments.

In keeping with this approach we aim as quickly as possible to get to a position where we can offer partners unrestricted multi-year funding. This doesn’t always happen immediately – we often offer initial funding on a short-term restricted basis as we find it allows us to get to understand an organisation better and, between us, work out if we can build an impactful partnership.

Proactive

BLFCT undertakes its activity proactively, directly sourcing charities and organisations to partner with. The Trust does not accept any unsolicited applications.

Funding

The Trust undertakes some international support such as it’s long-standing partnership with Magic Bus which has programmes supporting the poorest children across India on a journey from childhood to livelihood. However, the vast majority of the Trust’s funding is aimed at supporting UK charities delivering UK-based activity.

What we fund

The Trust has provided support across a wide range of areas over the years. Current activity is focused on 5 main areas:

Mental Health – Support addresses the growing mental health crisis in the UK with particular focus on support for young people.
Partners include: Place2Be, Kings Maudsley Partnership and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

Disability & Physical Health – Funding in this area focuses on families experiencing disability, people living with epilepsy or those navigating older living.
Partners include: Newlife the charity for disabled children, Young Epilepsy, Jewish Care and Friends of the Elderly.

Brighter Futures – Our support in this area looks to provide impactful support to young people who have experienced disadvantage. Mostly this is delivered through an education lens and includes specific support for those with experience of the care system.
Partners include: IntoUniversity, Coram, Marlow Opportunity Playgroup and Magic Bus.

Distant Voices – This area looks to help people who find themselves the furthest away from support and from stable independent lives. Activity focuses on people who have experienced the criminal justice system and refugees/asylum seekers.
Partners include: Spark Inside, Refugee Council, DWRM and Breaking Barriers.

Community & Small Charities – In this area BLFCT seeks to leverage its flexibility as a funder to support small organisations and community-focused activity. We work with small organisations working in aligned arenas either directly or through organisations that are already in position with links to a network or smaller organisations. Much of the community activity reflects the Trust’s heritage. As a whole the programme provides a broad foundation of support.
Partners include: Sea Changers, CSJ Foundation, TimeGivers and the Union of Jewish Students.

Contact

Further details including accounts can be found on the Charity Commission website.