Strategy to 2014/15
Mission
To maximise opportunities for individuals and communities to realise their potential and to experience and enjoy a better quality of life, now and in the future. In particular, we are concerned with children and young people and with disadvantaged people. The objects of the Foundation are to further such charitable purposes and to benefit such charitable institutions as the trustees see fit.
Values
In line with our founder Paul Hamlyn’s values, we believe in giving opportunities by realising people’s potential and in fighting prejudice. We are interested in finding better ways to do things and help organisations to sustain and develop their work. We pay particular attention to long-term issues. We are not afraid to address issues which others may find challenging or unpopular. Whilst being willing to work in partnership with government, we are also prepared to challenge its (and other people’s) established thinking. We believe independent foundations have an important role to play in society.
Strategic aims
Our strategic aims are:
1. Enabling people to experience and enjoy the arts.
2. Developing people’s education and learning.
3. Integrating marginalised young people who are at times of transition.
In addition, we have three related aims:
4. Advancing through research the understanding of the relationships between the arts, education and learning and social change.
5. Developing the capacity of organisations and people who facilitate our strategic aims.
6. Developing the Foundation itself to be an exemplar foundation, existing in perpetuity.
Programmes
We seek to achieve our first five aims by establishing three partly overlapping programmes for our work in the UK: arts; education and learning; and social justice. Themes and priorities within each programme may change over time. Each of the three programmes has an Open Grants scheme and Special Initiatives, the latter targeted at issues we particularly want to address to achieve long-term improvements in society. We have a separate programme for our work in India.
We expect the programmes and the work we support to have an impact at the levels of individuals and communities, organisations, and policy and practice.
Grant-making information
Full information on the objectives of each programme is available on the Foundation’s website. Please see www.phf.org.uk.