The Wolfson Foundation has pledged to spend more than £200m over the next five years and has retained a focus on funding building projects as part of its new strategy.
In its strategic framework, the funder said it had invested £195m over the previous five years and aimed to exceed that amount from 2025-2029.
The foundation plans to spend about 85% of its funds on “projects that build, strengthen and sustain an organisation’s infrastructure for the longer term”.
It said its grants will be for new build, refurbishment and equipment projects, prioritising projects that help organisations make a “significant, strategic change in their activity”, “allow talent and brilliant work to flourish” and make organisations “more sustainable, both financially and environmentally”.
The remaining 15% will be spent on bursaries, scholarships and fellowships for people working and studying in research and education and will be delivered in partnership with organisations that have relevant expertise and experience in allocating this type of funding.
Rise in applications
Writing in a blog, Wolfson Foundation chief executive Paul Ramsbottom said the grantmaker had been told that there remains a “crucial need across the UK for capital infrastructure funding”.
“There are few other similar sources of funding and yet organisations need to keep investing in their physical infrastructure,” he said.
Ramsbottom said the foundation had planned to spend £150m over the previous five years but exceeded this due to increasing need for funding.
“Over the time period of the last framework the sharp increase in needs led to a corresponding rise in applications,” he said.
“This vast flow of applications causes challenges – but we commit, again and publicly, to being relentless in attempting to provide the best possible experience for all applicants.
“We also recommit ourselves to being a listening funder, working in genuine partnership with the sectors that we support.
“Although acutely conscious of the headwinds, we also launch this framework with a degree of optimism.
“We are continuing to support imaginative, important projects and have the great joy of working with remarkable organisations across the whole of the UK.”
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