About us
“Overcoming poverty…is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.”
– Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa
The Caerlow Trust is a family-led discretionary grant-making trust that supports organisations and communities to address the challenges of homelessness, hunger, and addiction, with an additional interest in supporting organisations that provide services specifically for women.
Established in 2023, the Trust’s operating principles are rooted in the basic belief that everyone deserves to have access to sufficient resources such that they are not concerned with day-to-day survival. It aims to achieve this by making grants targeting three chosen pillars of humanitarian relief: hunger, homelessness, and addiction.
The Trust recognises that the issues around these three areas of social need are complex, and it seeks to make grants or investments into programmes that strengthen communities and empower organisations to address these challenges.
Based in London, the Trust’s founders hope to make significant and meaningful change in the social landscape of London, but also to grow to have a nationwide reach. The ambition is for the Trust to develop rapidly to become a versatile and flexible organisation that will have a very real impact and make a difference to many lives.
Our vision is a UK where people have a good home and good health, and are able to live fulfilling lives.
Our values
The Caerlow Trust’s values are core to what we do and how we do things. We will be guided by them, through the activities we undertake and through our decision making.
Effectiveness
We are driven to make a difference.
We will work professionally and diligently to achieve our mission.
We will focus our funds on organisations who share this as their ambition, and who seek to demonstrate that they are successful at delivering meaningful impact.
Compassion
We will act with kindness and empathy. This will be seen in our interactions with others, within the Trust and outside of it, and through who we support.
We will be understanding of the challenges the organisations we work with face, and do our best to support them in whatever way we can.
Learning
We will continuously seek to develop our knowledge of the areas in which we work. We recognise those we support are the experts at what they do, and we will be guided by them.
We will prioritise learning across our organisation and support those we fund to do the same.
We will listen to our stakeholders and be responsive and adaptable in our approach.
Commitment
We are dedicated to making a difference in both the short and longer term.
We will deliver on our promises and build trusting relationships with those we work with.
We hope to journey with organisations, standing by and offering support when things don’t necessarily go to plan, learning together and moving forward.
The Caerlow Trust 