In 2021 EGF’s Trustees agreed we would commit to spending a minimum of £100M on charitable activity between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2031, ultimately leading to us ‘spending out’ and closing our operations by 2032. We believe that using our resources in such a concentrated time frame will allow us to significantly maximise the impact our funding has for vulnerable people now when their need is greater than ever.
In the first four years we have been realising this commitment in two ways. Firstly, with the help of a core group of carefully chosen ‘Legacy Partners’ – charities we have worked with successfully in the past and who we rely very heavily on for their reach and expertise and secondly, through requests from other UK registered charities to support major capital projects, costing at least £1M, that support our commitment to create new and sustainable capacity that will transform lives and bring about a step change in the way care is delivered.
In December 2024 however Trustees had to take the difficult decision to close the Capital Grants Programme and concentrate resources on our chosen Legacy Partners. This was in response to the October 2024 Budget where changes were made to National Insurance, the minimum wage and employment regulations which will see a number of these charities struggle to fund the additional overhead costs they face.
In the 4 years since Trustees took the decision to spend out, we have awarded in excess of £55M in support of our commitment. This has provided our chosen partners with financial certainty and allowed them to be able to plan for the future with confidence, safe in the knowledge they will be in the best place possible to be able to continue the great work they do long after we have closed our operation. This has been a wonderful start however we still have a lot more to do in support of Ted Gostling’s Vision that “people living on a low income who have a disability or long-term illness should have as many as possible of the same choices, quality of life opportunities and aspirations as others more fortunate than themselves”.