Benefact Group provides transformative awards to four heritage charities

As part of its Movement for Good Awards, Benefact Group has donated over £130,000 to charitable causes leading the change in the heritage sector across the UK.

The latest phase of the Movement for Good Awards has awarded over £480,000 to charities working across climate change and environment, education and skills, heritage and arts and rural and community sectors.

The heritage charities set to benefit include The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, English Heritage, Historic England, and Historic Royal Palaces. 

Historic Royal Palaces cares for six of the world's most magnificent palaces, welcoming visitors from around the world to discover history in some of the country’s most iconic sites. The £30,000 funding they are set to receive will support the Access Fund for schools in disadvantaged areas. The charity’s award-winning schools programme is renowned for its workshops, use of costumed presenters and access to objects and imagery which transport pupils into the past. The Movement for Good grant will help double the number of free places available this year, welcoming thousands more pupils to learn from the palaces.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust cares for the Shakespeare family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon as well as promoting the enjoyment and understanding of his works and life all over the world. The £30,000 funding will help support a project aiming to open disadvantaged young people to the language and imagination of Shakespeare. The project will produce a colourful version of the First Folio book for Children, using Shakespeare’s original language and adapted specifically for children to read and perform, with 10,000 free copies distributed to schools and libraries nationally. The funding will also develop inspirational performance opportunities for children using the new Children’s Folio, and resources for teachers and librarians to extend the impact of the project for the future.

The awards are designed to help charities make a real difference in their communities. More than 900 charities applied for the funding which is being put towards the advancement of education and skills, rural and community development, heritage, arts and culture, and climate change and environment. The winning projects were selected against four criteria: impact and effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and care and compassion.

The Movement for Good Awards large grants provide charities with flexible funding that can be used within three years and for a blend of capital and running costs for their projects.

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive of Benefact Group, said: “Benefact Group is a family of award-winning companies and the third largest corporate donor to charity in the UK. We are delighted to be able to announce another series of transformational grants and are grateful to all our supporters, including the customers of the trusted insurer, Ecclesiastical, and the boutique responsible and sustainable asset manager, EdenTree. On behalf of the new beneficiaries announced today, we offer them our sincere thanks – whether they realise it or not, they are transforming lives.

Benefact Group understands the importance of longer-term funding for charities, especially when trying to bring ambitious new ideas to life and get larger transformative projects off the ground. Through our large grants, we are actively championing innovation, giving charities the backing they need to propel their plans forward and turn creative ideas into practical solutions that benefit society. Owned by a charity ourselves, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do and all of our available profits go to good causes.”

Alison Lightbown, Head of Schools and Communities at Historic Royal Palaces, said: “We are delighted to receive this generous Movement for Good Awards funding, which will enable our education programme to continue to reach schools from across the country. As an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces is committed to removing barriers to access our heritage sites and to ensure our enriching programme is open to all. This support for travel bursaries for schools who may not normally be able to visit us will enable thousands of students to benefit from our award-winning educational programme in the coming year.”

Andy Reeves, Head of Learning Development at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: “Thanks to the generous support of the Benefact Group we will be able to bring Shakespeare 'off the page' for children in a unique way. By developing our new teaching resources that support the Children’s Folio, we will help teachers to make the wonderful language of Shakespeare accessible in the classroom.”

Benefact Group has donated over £200million to charitable causes since 2014 and has been recognised as the third biggest corporate giver in the UK. The organisation aims to reach £250million in donations by 2025.

Movement for Good is funded by EIO plc, part of the Benefact Group.

For further information visit benefactgroup.com