Smiths Group Foundation awards first round of charitable donations

Grants totalling c.£1m awarded in 2024

Smiths Group, the industrial technology company, today announces the first round of grants to be awarded to charities around the world through its newly launched charitable foundation. 

The Smiths Group Foundation is awarding grants totalling c. £1m to charities in several countries. Each donation aligns with Smiths purpose of ‘improving our world through smarter engineering’, through committing to the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills, sustainability, safety and connectedness in communities. 

The Smiths Group Foundation aims primarily to award grants to organisations to whom Smiths people can offer their time as volunteers. The goal is for financial benefits and hands-on collaboration to come together and enhance outcomes for local communities.
 
One of the Foundation’s chosen charities is London-based Inspire, a charity that promotes social mobility and raises career aspirations among young people. The Smiths Group Foundation grant will support underrepresented groups of young people from London boroughs – including women, those from BAME backgrounds and those with additional needs – to access STEM careers through tailored work-related learning and aspiration raising interventions and workshops.

There are opportunities for Smiths Group employees to be involved with skills-based volunteering as mentors and coaches for the young people receiving this support.

Rez Hussain, Director of Business Development at Inspire, said: “We are very grateful to the Smiths Group Foundation for helping us support underrepresented young people in our communities. We work collaboratively with employers, parents and guardians, volunteers, educational institutions and young people themselves to support their career aspirations. This grant gives us a big boost in our work in tackling social mobility and to positively transform young futures.”

Other charities receiving grants from the Smiths Group Foundation include:

• Asociacion Ideas en Accion – a Costa Rican charity that identifies and executes collaborative innovation programmes with high potential for impact, replicability, and relevance at a global level, and which will facilitate opportunities for vulnerable women to learn about STEM subjects and create career opportunities.
• Flint Global Partners – a US-based charity which partners with individuals living in extreme poverty and equips local entrepreneurs with the tools, connections, and resources to solve their own problems by creating businesses that will last.
• Fundación Mozcalti – a Mexican charity that strengthens and empowers people in vulnerable situations and will support vulnerable communities and local schools to improve their sustainable infrastructure.
• The GEANCO Foundation – a charity based in Nigeria focused on transforming the lives of vulnerable people in Africa, including providing young women with STEM career opportunities.
• Just a Drop – a charity which works to implement safe water, sanitation and hygiene solutions which are tailored to the needs of recipient communities in various African and Asian countries.
• Palace for Life – the official charity of Crystal Palace F.C., uses the power of football to change the lives of young people across south London, particularly the most hard-to-reach and hard-to-help.
• STEMAZINGKids – a UK not-for-profit social enterprise which seeks to raise a diverse generation of scientists, tech experts and engineers by nurturing children's natural wonderment for the world when they are young.

Further grants to more charities have been awarded in-principle and will be confirmed following clearance of final verification steps.

The Smiths Group Foundation has committed an initial £10m of funding, which it intends to distribute through a series of donations over the coming years, giving the Foundation a sustainable and long-term focus. The Foundation is directed by a committee of Smiths employees, which reviews applications and determines funding allocation. 

Both the Foundation and committee are supported by the Charities Aid Foundation, a globally renowned and highly respected organisation working with donors and charities across the world to accelerate progress in society towards a fair and sustainable future for all. 

Hannah Constantine, Corporate General Counsel at Smiths and Chair of the Smiths Group Foundation, said: “We have seen such high levels of interest in and engagement with the Foundation, both within and outside Smiths. This has been thoroughly heartwarming. We are hugely excited to be able to support so many good causes proposed by our colleagues that resonate with our business and which will benefit young people and local communities. This is only the start of our journey, with many more awards planned for the future.”

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