Paul Hamlyn was an entrepreneurial publisher and philanthropist, whose success was built on challenging traditional approaches to publishing. He was committed to offering new opportunities and experiences for less fortunate members of society. In 1987 he established Paul Hamlyn Foundation for general charitable purposes. He died in 2001 and left most of his estate to the Foundation, creating one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK.
Our Vision
A just society in which everyone, especially young people, can realise their full potential and enjoy fulfilling and creative lives.
Our Mission
To be an effective and independent funder, using all our resources to create opportunities and support social change. We partner with inspiring organisations and individuals to make sure that people facing disadvantage are at the heart of leading change and designing solutions to overcome inequality.
Our Values
- Collaboration and connection: We believe in the power of working together to achieve a greater impact
- Trust: Is at the heart of strong It is hard won and can be easily lost
- Openness: Is key to building trust and enabling
- Thoughtfulness: Every decision we take has an impact on someone, so we strive to think about others with kindness
Grant-Making
We launched our current UK strategy in September 2020. It is built around key funding priorities, where we wish to see change:
- Investing in young people
- Migration and integration
- Arts access and participation
- Education and learning through the arts
- Nurturing ideas and people
Social Justice
Working towards a just and equitable society – is at the heart of our vision as is our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and to becoming anti-racist. We are interested in supporting individuals and organisations that share this commitment, funding work that:
- Strengthens civil society
- Supports social innovation
- Champions people’s voice and agency
- Responds to digital transformation
- Responds to the climate emergency
In 2023/24, PHF made grants totalling £57 million to organisations and individuals working in the arts, in cultural education, in migration and integration, and in giving young people voice in the UK.
We have been working in India since 1992. It is the only place we fund outside the UK, with a strategy in place for grant-making delivered by a small team. On an early visit, Paul Hamlyn recognised that people and communities had inherit strengths which were often overlooked, particularly when living in challenging circumstances.
Today, we continue to work with local organisations in priority areas where we can add most value, making about £3m in grants each year to local NGOs for health, education, support for disabled people, and other development activities. Trustees have recently agreed a refresh of our grant making strategy in India that will be published in the autumn and more details on our work in India can be found on our website here.
Investment and Resources
Paul Hamlyn Foundation is a registered charity that has substantial investment assets that finance our grant-making activities. The financial objective of the Foundation is to maintain the real value of those assets after inflation. We aim to generate a stable and sustained return to fund our grant making, giving at least 4% of our assets on average each year. We understand that many of the areas in which we work as a grant funder are complex and require a long-term approach. Equally, in managing our assets, the Foundation is a long- term investor, expecting to exist in perpetuity.
At the time of writing, our endowment, which we manage in-house, stands at c£900m. We are planning to spend in the region of £40m per annum for the next 5 years, depending on grant making opportunities and investment returns. In addition to this, Trustees have recently embarked on a 12 month period of discovery kicking off a project with the intention to spend a significant amount of the endowment over a 3-4 year period. More information about this project can be found here. Our most recent annual accounts can be found on our website here.
The Foundation seeks to produce the best financial return within an acceptable level of risk. We are interested in the best way of supporting organisations we work with and recognises that, although this will usually be through grant funding, at times support through other methods such as loans may be helpful. However, we are not currently seeking to build a social investment portfolio.
We own our building in King’s Cross, London, and make it available free of charge to past and present grantees when we can. We believe it provides an important safe space to reflect and share learning openly for us and our partners.
We have a staff team of 49, located in London (47) and New Delhi (2). From mid November 2024 the team will be led by Chief Executive Halima Khan who takes over from outgoing Chief Executive Moira Sinclair.
