Getting the Smiths Group Foundation up and running

At Smiths we are a purpose-driven company, and central to this purpose is ‘improving our world.’

So our task in setting up the Foundation was to ensure that it contributes to our communities in a way that aligns with this purpose. We formed a cross-divisional, cross-regional and cross-functional committee to bring diverse perspectives and contributions together, and agreed on an impact framework that will keep the Foundation on course to deliver on its purpose.

It’s important to us that our own employees are able to nominate organisations that will benefit from the Foundation’s grants – choosing causes that are close to their hearts and within their own communities. And many of our first grants are to organisations with whom our employees can volunteer their time, to enhance our impact and make the Foundation both local and global in scale.

The Foundation makes awards which improve our world through smarter engineering and support causes in three key areas:

• Expanding access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education and skills, for under-represented groups;
• Improving safety and connectedness within communities – for example, using engineering to achieve cleaner air or water, food security or safety measures; and
• Improving the environmental sustainability of communities – for example using engineering to achieve climate change resilience, recycling or water conservation.

Smiths employees around the world have really embraced this opportunity in the Foundation’s first year -- nominating nearly 100 good causes around the world. And now I’m delighted to share news that, after a careful review and vetting process with the help of our partners at the Charities Aid Foundation, our first grants are being made, totalling c.£1m. 

Here are some of the organisations we’ll be supporting and the impact the grants will have: Asociacion Ideas en Accion, The GEANCO Foundation, Inspire, Makkala Jagriti, Palace for Life and STEMAZINGKids will provide greater access to STEM learning, mentoring and career support for under-represented groups in a number of communities. Meanwhile, Flint Global, Fundación Mozcalti and Just a Drop will support activities to safeguard safety and environmental sustainability. Further grants will be announced as they obtain final clearances. I look forward to telling you more about the outcomes and results achieved with these first grants. 

And this is just the beginning! As the impact and awareness of the Foundation grows, we will continue to make grants annually to good causes. The Foundation begins its second year on 1 May 2024 when its next nomination window opens.

I want to thank each and every one of the nearly 100 Smiths employees who nominated a charity this year, and each organisation who will partner with our Foundation in the year ahead to deliver change where it’s needed the most. Together, we'll make a difference.

Hannah Constantine,

General Counsel, Corporate & M&A, Smiths Group
Chair of the Smiths Group Foundation