The Varrier-jones Foundation

Quick Stats

• Annual Giving: £1,570,000 (2023/24)
• Total Assets: £60 million
• Grant Focus: Disability charities
• Primary Beneficiary: Papworth Trust
• Geographic Focus: National (UK focus)
• Application Process: No public application process

Contact Details

Address: Upper Pendrill Court, Ermine Street North, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, CB23 3UY

Phone: 01480 831801

Email: Maria.Scattergood@varrierjones.co.uk (Operations Manager)

Website: www.varrierjones.co.uk

Overview

The Varrier-Jones Foundation was established in 1997 when assets were separated from Papworth Trust to enable more effective management of land, property and investment holdings. With total assets of £60 million (comprising approximately £18 million in property and £42 million in market investments), the Foundation functions as an endowment fund primarily supporting Papworth Trust while also making grants to other disability charities. In the financial year ending March 2024, the Foundation made total donations exceeding £1.5 million. The Foundation is governed by 8 trustees and employs 2 staff members. Its mission is to provide sustainable financial support enabling disabled people to achieve equality, choice and independence. The trustees focus on preserving the long-term real value of capital while generating inflation-proofed donations to deliver predictable support to the disability sector.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The Foundation operates two distinct funding streams:

Primary Support to Papworth Trust: The vast majority of annual charitable expenditure (approximately £1.5+ million) goes to Papworth Trust, a leading disability charity providing housing, employment support, and care services.

Grants to Other Disability Charities: The Foundation makes what it describes as “modest grants” to other charities providing services for people with disabilities. Specific grant amounts and recipients are not publicly disclosed.

Priority Areas

• Support for disabled people's equality, choice and independence
• Services for people with disabilities
• Disability charities aligned with the Foundation's mission

What They Don't Fund

Given their specific focus on disability services and the absence of public application guidelines, it appears the Foundation does not fund:

• Organizations outside the disability sector
• Individual applicants
• Organizations without a track record of serving people with disabilities

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Governance and Leadership

Trustees

The Foundation is governed by 8 trustees who serve without remuneration. Known trustees include:

• Chris (Honorary Treasurer) - Joined May 2021. Experienced finance professional with extensive not-for-profit sector experience, completed ACA chartered accountant training with Deloitte Cambridge.

• Carli Baldasare - Over 15 years experience in financial services, specializing in responsible investment strategies as Head of Charities at Tribe Impact Capital.

• Miranda Richards - Trustee

• Peter Agar - Trustee

• Peter Richard Denison Gutteridge - Trustee

• Richard Norton - Trustee

• Diarmid James Ducas Ogilvy - Trustee

• Stacey Navin - Trustee

The Board includes members with property expertise (including a Chartered Surveyor with over 40 years of Cambridgeshire property experience who joined in 2016) and investment portfolio management experience, reflecting the Foundation's dual role in property development and grant making.

Staff

Maria Scattergood - Operations Manager with over 30 years' experience in property-related environments. Primary contact for the Foundation.

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

This funder does not have a public application process. The Foundation operates primarily as an endowment fund for Papworth Trust, with grants to other disability charities determined at trustee discretion. There are no published application guidelines, eligibility criteria, deadlines, or application forms available.

Grants to organizations other than Papworth Trust appear to be awarded through:

• Trustee identification and selection
• Pre-existing relationships with the disability sector
• Invitation-only basis

Organizations seeking funding should not submit unsolicited applications in the traditional sense, as there is no established process for reviewing them.

Getting on Their Radar

Given the Foundation's close historical relationship with Papworth Trust (having been formed from Papworth's assets in 1997), organizations might consider:

Sector networking: The trustees and their connections to Papworth Trust and the broader Cambridgeshire disability sector may be the primary route through which the Foundation becomes aware of other organizations. Building relationships within the disability charity sector, particularly in the Cambridge/Cambridgeshire area, may be relevant.

Contact the Operations Manager: While there is no formal application process, organizations might consider writing to Maria Scattergood (Operations Manager) to introduce their organization and express interest in the Foundation's work, though there is no indication this will lead to funding opportunities.

Note: These strategies are speculative given the lack of public information about how the Foundation identifies grant recipients beyond Papworth Trust.

Application Success Factors

Given the absence of public application processes or documented selection criteria, there are no specific success factors available. However, based on the Foundation's documented priorities:

Alignment with core mission: Organizations must clearly serve people with disabilities and align with the Foundation's mission of supporting equality, choice and independence for disabled people.

Established track record: Given the Foundation's substantial assets and conservative investment approach focused on long-term sustainability, they likely favor organizations with proven track records in disability services.

Financial sustainability focus: The trustees' emphasis on “preserving long-term real value of capital” and generating “sustainable inflation-proofed donations” suggests they may favor organizations that demonstrate financial prudence and long-term planning.

Relationship to Papworth Trust: Given that the Foundation was created from Papworth Trust's assets and maintains its primary funding relationship with Papworth, organizations with connections to or complementary work with Papworth Trust may have an advantage.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

• No public application process exists - this is not a funder you can submit a traditional grant application to
• Primary beneficiary is Papworth Trust - the vast majority of the £1.5+ million annual giving supports this single organization
• “Modest grants” to others - while the Foundation does support other disability charities, these grants are described as modest and no public information exists about recipients or amounts
• Asset management focus - the Foundation functions primarily as an investment vehicle managing £60 million in property and market investments to generate sustainable income
• Trustee discretion - all funding decisions appear to be made by the 8-trustee board without public input or applications
• Disability sector only - the Foundation's focus is exclusively on supporting disabled people's equality, choice and independence
• Relationship-based - any grants beyond Papworth Trust likely flow from existing relationships and trustee knowledge of the sector rather than competitive application processes

References

• Charity Commission Register of Charities, The Varrier-Jones Foundation (Charity Number 1064595), https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1064595&subid=0

• OpenCharities, The Varrier-Jones Foundation, http://opencharities.org/charities/1064595

• The Varrier-Jones Foundation website, www.varrierjones.co.uk

• Companies House, The Varrier-Jones Foundation (Company Number 03377965), https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03377965

• LinkedIn, Maria Scattergood - Operations Manager profile

• Reach Volunteering, Varrier Jones Foundation trustee opportunities, https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/org/varrier-jones-foundation