Chair’s statement

A positive difference

The current year marks the beginning of an exciting new phase in the life of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

In February we welcomed Moira Sinclair, formerly Executive Director at Arts Council England, as our new Director. Since her arrival, Moira has been working closely with the senior team on ensuring our new strategy is ready for its launch this June.

The strategy emphatically underlines our desire to make a decisive contribution within our key areas of funding. We are confident it will bring a sharpening of focus to the full range of our activities – research, grant-making, evaluation and advocacy – whilst at the same time making the Foundation more open to distinctive and innovative ideas.

I’m sure Moira will join me in thanking the trustees and the team at the Foundation for working closely together to shape our direction of travel over the next few years, and in particular to our trustee Tom Wylie, who stepped in as Interim Director for six months prior to Moira’s arrival and made sure that we were able to make significant progress in developing our thinking whilst continuing a wide range of grant-making. The fact that we made more Open Grants last year than in any previous year, at the same time as we were involved in wide-ranging discussions about the shape of our new strategy, is testament to the commitment of the entire team at the Foundation.

One particularly happy moment in the year was the celebration of 20 years of the Awards for Artists. Almost fifty artists to whom we have given significant support gathered at our offices last November to mark the occasion, shortly before we announced the names of this year’s award recipients.

Earlier this year, we were very saddened by the passing of Bob Gavron, a very close friend to the Hamlyn family and to the Foundation. Bob was the first trustee my father turned to, and from its inception Bob made a hugely important contribution to the Foundation’s work. He was the best critical friend and passionate advocate for our work and we will miss his sparkling mind and generous spirit.

In happier circumstances we said goodbye to two colleagues. Denise Barrows, who headed our Education and Learning team for seven years, left to lead the education team at the Mercers’ Company and Mia Ferron, who worked tirelessly as assistant to myself and the Foundation’s directors for several years, also moved on. We wish them both all the best for the future.

While this Yearbook records the grant-making and funding work we have undertaken during 2014/15, it tells only part of the story of the year. A lot of time and energy has been focused on thinking about some of the many urgent questions and issues this country faces. We are looking forward to working closely with many friends and organisations – both those we’ve known for many years as well as those we don’t yet know – to make a positive difference.

Jane Hamlyn
Chair