The Mosawi Foundation

Charity Number: 1157269

Annual Expenditure: £1.6M
Geographic Focus: Oxfordshire, City Of London, Cardiff, Herefordshire

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Quick Stats

  • Registered Charity Number: 1157269
  • Annual Income: £1,983,531 (2024)
  • Annual Giving: £1,634,192 (2024)
  • Grant Range: £10,000 - £1,000,000+
  • Geographic Focus: United Kingdom, Africa, and The Middle East
  • Application Process: No public application process (invitation/relationship-based)

Contact Details

Address: PO Box 4822, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 9HB

Email: saradickason.tmf@gmail.com

Website: www.themosawifoundation.org (currently offline)

Note: The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications. They proactively identify and approach organisations aligned with their mission.

Overview

The Mosawi Foundation was established in 2014 by Ali and May Mosawi as a private philanthropic trust. With annual charitable expenditure of £1.63 million (2024), the foundation serves as “a catalyst for galvanising communities, supporting healthcare initiatives and nurturing talent.” Ali Mosawi, founder of Al Hayat Scientific Office in Baghdad (a leading pharmaceutical distributor in Iraq), was educated at Cardiff and Loughborough universities and now lives in England with his family. The foundation operates internationally, funding projects across the United Kingdom, Africa, and The Middle East, with a particular focus on organisations with “a strong self help ethos” that actively serve their communities. In 2024, the foundation made its largest single gift to date - £1 million to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, marking the college's largest philanthropic donation in its 75-year history.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The Mosawi Foundation makes strategic grants ranging from £10,000 to over £1 million. Known grants include:

  • Major Institutional Support: £1,000,000 to Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (2024) - the largest single philanthropic gift in the college's history
  • Endowment/Scholarship Funds: Significant contribution to £150,000 Sir Geraint Evans Centenary Scholarship fund (jointly with The Linbury Trust) providing scholarships to one opera student per year for ten years
  • Healthcare Infrastructure: Multi-year support to Kamuli Friends for construction of 10 nurses' homes and a guesthouse for visiting medical professionals in rural Uganda
  • Community Facilities: £10,000 to Henley YMCA (2015) towards lease purchase
  • Education & Arts: Ongoing support to Henley Music School

The foundation makes both one-off grants and sustained multi-year funding commitments to selected partners.

Priority Areas

The foundation's stated mission is to partner with and support organisations and charities that help their communities “rebuild, regenerate and re-energise.” They focus on four main categories:

  1. Youth and Communities: Supporting community regeneration and development projects
  2. Nurturing Talent: Arts education, music scholarships, and developing emerging talent (particularly opera singers and musicians)
  3. Healthcare: Medical infrastructure projects, trauma relief, and improving healthcare access in underserved areas
  4. Outreach to the Marginalised: Supporting displaced communities and refugees, particularly through partnerships with organisations like the Iraqi Red Crescent

Geographic priorities: UK (particularly Oxfordshire, Cardiff, Herefordshire, City of London), Uganda, Middle East (especially Iraq and refugee populations)

Self-Help Ethos: A defining characteristic of organisations the foundation supports is a “strong self help ethos” - they look to fund organisations that actively serve their communities and empower beneficiaries to move forward independently.

What They Don't Fund

Specific exclusions are not publicly documented. However, based on their funding pattern:

  • They do not appear to fund pure service provision without a community development/capacity-building component
  • No evidence of funding purely research-based projects without direct community impact
  • No evidence of funding individuals directly (except through established scholarship programmes)
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Governance and Leadership

Trustees:

  • Mr A A Mosawi (Ali Mosawi) - Founder, Chairman and major shareholder of Al Hayat Scientific Office in Baghdad
  • Mrs E M Mosawi (May Mosawi) - Co-founder
  • Anthony Semir Mosawi
  • Eleanor Mosawi
  • Shannon Mosawi (Managing Trustee)

No trustees receive remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. The foundation has no trading subsidiaries.

Connection to Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama: May Mosawi is a former student of RWCMD, which helps explain the foundation's substantial support for the college including the £1 million donation and the Sir Geraint Evans scholarship fund.

Quote from the foundation: When supporting Henley YMCA, the foundation stated they were drawn to the organisation because of their shared ethos of “self help people to move forward” and viewed YMCA as “the best kept secret in Henley.”

How to Apply to The Mosawi Foundation

How to Apply

The Mosawi Foundation does not have a public application process.

The foundation operates on an invitation and relationship-based model. They proactively identify organisations aligned with their mission and approach them to discuss potential partnerships. Based on documented grants, the foundation appears to:

  • Build relationships through personal connections and shared networks (e.g., introduced to Henley YMCA by Dr. Dudeney, a YMCA trustee)
  • Support organisations where trustees or family members have personal connections (e.g., May Mosawi's connection to RWCMD as a former student)
  • Focus on organisations in areas where they have presence or connections (Henley-on-Thames area, Cardiff, Iraq/Middle East)
  • Make multi-year commitments rather than one-off grants to many different organisations

Contact: While the foundation lists an email address (saradickason.tmf@gmail.com), they do not accept unsolicited grant applications. Unsolicited approaches are unlikely to be successful.

Decision Timeline

Not publicly documented. Given the relationship-based nature of their grant-making, there is no standard application cycle or decision timeline.

Success Rates

Not applicable - the foundation does not accept open applications.

Reapplication Policy

Not applicable - the foundation does not accept open applications.

Application Success Factors

Since The Mosawi Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications, traditional “application success factors” do not apply. However, organisations that have received funding share these characteristics:

Alignment with Foundation Values:

  • Self-help ethos: The foundation consistently emphasises supporting organisations that empower beneficiaries to “move forward” independently rather than creating dependency
  • Community regeneration: Focus on projects that help communities “rebuild, regenerate and re-energise”
  • Active service: They look for organisations that “actively serve their communities and local areas”

Types of Projects Funded:

  • Infrastructure with lasting impact: The Kamuli Friends grant built permanent accommodation for nurses rather than funding operational costs
  • Talent development: RWCMD scholarships and Henley Music School support develop individual potential
  • Strategic institutional support: The £1m RWCMD gift supported transformational institutional development

Personal Connections Matter:

  • May Mosawi's connection to RWCMD as an alumna led to the college's largest-ever donation
  • Introduction through trusted intermediaries (Dr. Dudeney introduced them to Henley YMCA)
  • Geographic connections to Henley-on-Thames area and Cardiff

Scale of Impact:

  • The foundation makes substantial grants (£10,000 minimum identified, up to £1m+)
  • They appear to prefer making significant impact with fewer partners rather than many small grants
  • Multi-year commitments indicate they value sustained partnerships over transactional giving

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • This funder does not accept unsolicited applications - do not waste time preparing speculative proposals
  • The foundation identifies and approaches potential partners through personal networks and connections rather than responding to applications
  • Their grant-making is highly relationship-driven - personal connections to trustees, geographic proximity, or introductions from trusted intermediaries are key
  • They make substantial grants (£10,000 - £1,000,000+) to a small number of carefully selected partners
  • Focus areas are youth and communities, nurturing talent, healthcare, and supporting marginalised groups in UK, Africa, and Middle East
  • They value organisations with a “strong self help ethos” that empower beneficiaries to move forward independently
  • The foundation makes both one-off transformational gifts and sustained multi-year commitments
  • If you have a genuine connection to the foundation's trustees or areas of interest, an introduction from a trusted intermediary may be the only viable pathway
  • Despite being listed as “removed charity” on the Charity Commission register, the foundation remains active with £1.98m income and £1.63m charitable expenditure in 2024

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