20 Years of Grantmaking
Almost a century after James Tudor became the first Honorary Secretary of the Bristol Medical Institutions Contributory Scheme, we are delighted to mark The Foundation’s twentieth anniversary and to celebrate the legacy created in his honour.
We are grateful to all the organisations we have been able to support for their commitment to improving physical and mental health in their communities, and are proud to have played a part in helping them realise their ambitions.
Stephanie Wren
Chair of Trustees, The James Tudor Foundation
Established for
the Relief of
Sickness
The Foundation was established for the relief of sickness, a broad and enduring purpose that has enabled support for a wide range of organisations working with both adults and children, in the UK and internationally.
In its first 20 years, The Foundation supported more than 670 organisations, awarding over 1,700 grants, and investing in excess of £19.5 million in charitable grants. During this time, funding was directed across five categories: Relief of Sickness, Health Education, Palliative Care, Medical Research, and International.
The funding priorities in these categories have evolved over the years in response to changing needs across the health sector. As The Foundation approached its third decade, it became clear that such a wide remit made it increasingly difficult to respond to rising demand with a clear and consistent offering to charities. This prompted a refinement of its funding priorities and an evolution towards more flexible funding.
You can read about the current funding programmes
here, but this section of our website is dedicated to celebrating the many collaborations built over The Foundation's first 20 years of grantmaking.
SINCE 2005
2005-25
1700+
Grants awarded across five funding programmes
670+
Organisations supported in the UK and internationally
95%
Organisations supported in the UK and internationally
£19.5m+
Awarded to charitable
organisations
Our funding programmes
in our first 20 years
This was The Foundation’s broadest programme, attracting the largest number of applications and resulting in the highest volume of grants awarded. Through this programme, the Foundation awarded £6.9 million in over 825 grants to 375 local and national organisations.
Grants have supported the full spectrum of physical health needs in both children and adults. In recent years, demand for mental health support has grown steadily, leading to the establishment of a dedicated funding programme.
Through the Health Education programme, the Foundation awarded £2.18 million in over 249 grants to 148 local and national organisations. Grants were awarded to charities providing specialist information on single conditions or groups of related conditions, encompassing both common and rare diseases.
The programme had a dual purpose. First, it aimed to increase awareness of specific conditions among health professionals, supporting earlier diagnosis and treatment. Second, it sought to empower patients and their families by disseminating specialist information through a range of channels, including digital and print resources as well as helplines.
Through the Medical Research programme, the Foundation awarded £4.75 million in 145 grants to 36 organisations.
The majority of this funding, totalling over £3 million, was awarded to eight UK universities to support early-stage research across a range of fields.
The remaining funds were distributed to UK medical research charities focusing on specific conditions and, to a lesser extent, to hospital charities involved in patient focused research.
Through the Palliative Care programme, the Foundation awarded £3.87 million in 232 grants to 105 organisations across the UK. The majority of this funding, over £3.57 million, was awarded to 93 adult and children’s hospices, with the remaining £300,000 supporting 12 other local and national organisations providing a range of palliative care services.
In 2016, to ensure the programme remained sustainable, the Foundation restricted eligibility to adult and children’s hospices located in South West England and South Wales.
Through the International programme, the Foundation awarded £1.93 million in 264 grants to 97 organisations across X countries.
Grants under this programme supported a wide range of activities, from direct healthcare provision to improving maternal and infant health, advancing sexual and reproductive health education, and developing the healthcare workforce of the future. Funding also enabled disability support, the provision of specialist medical equipment, and the enhancement of WASH facilities.
