The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a registered charity[1] founded in England in 1961. It is one of the largest independent grantmaking foundations in England, making grants to organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK, both now and in the future.
The Foundation likes to consider work which others may find hard to fund, perhaps because it breaks new ground, appears too risky, requires core funding, or needs a more unusual form of financial help such as a loan. The key areas for the Foundation are the arts, heritage, education and learning, the environment and social change. The Foundation is also known for starting initiatives themselves where new thinking is required or where they believe there are important unexplored opportunities, such as their "Rethinking Crime & Punishment" initiative in 2002-2005.
In 2009 the charity had an expenditure of £30 million.[2]
The Foundation is based in Kings Cross, London, and has a staff of approximately twenty three. Trustees include Tom Chandos (Chairman), Felicity Fairbairn, Beatrice Hollond, James Hughes-Hallett, Thomas Hughes-Hallett, Kate Lampard, Baroness Veronica Linklater and William Sieghart.
The charity was founded by Ian Fairbairn, a pioneer of unit trust investment, and named in honour of his second wife who was killed in World War II. The charity notes that: