Other grants
The Foundation sometimes makes other awards that do not fit within the programme aims, although they normally relate to our areas of interest. These awards are not made in response to applications. This year we made three other awards.
Disasters Emergency Committee
Relief and rehabilitation work in Burma
£100,000
Cyclone Nargis struck Burma (Myanmar) in May 2008. Estimates of the death toll vary but official figures place the total confirmed dead at over 77,000, with a further 55,000 people missing. The disaster created 150,000 displaced persons, as homes were lost to storm damage and flooding.The United Nations described as ‘severely affected’ an area with a population of 1.4 million. In the weeks that followed, disease and famine threatened as efforts were hampered by non-cooperation from the military government. The Foundation contributed to the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organisation that fundraises and coordinates the activities of a group of charities with expertise in providing humanitarian aid. Its work in Burma addressed the immediate needs of survivors, in particular those that are vulnerable, and sought to help them reconstruct their lives ‘in safer more resilient communities that are better able to withstand future disasters’ (DEC Burma Vision Statement).
The Helen Hamlyn Trust
Support for the Helen Hamlyn Trust 2008/09
£2,000,000
The principal focus of the Trust is on the initiation of medium- and long-term projects, funded by way of grants, solely or with partners, linked to the shared interests of Lady Hamlyn and her late husband, Paul Hamlyn.
The current strategy for grant-making is concentrated on the following areas of activity: Medical, the Arts and Culture, Education and Welfare, Heritage and Conservation in India, International Humanitarian Affairs and Healthy Ageing. Within these areas of activity the Trust also supports a number of projects with a design focus which are undertaken by the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art, London. The Trust’s core aim is to initiate and support innovative medium- to long-term projects, which will effect lasting change and improve quality of life.