We aim to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK.

Turner Contemporary

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Celebrating 60 years of Esmée

In 2021, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation turned 60. We wanted to take some time to reflect over the last 60 years, and to celebrate the breadth of our work and all that we have achieved working with so many brilliant people and partners.

Great Crested Newt

Our Natural World

We want  to ensure that our natural world is restored and protected and that people benefit from that recovery. Working with others, we will contribute to three key impact goals: preserved and improved species health and habitats, clean and healthy freshwater, and sustainable and ethical food.

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Advocacy Academy

A Fairer Future

We want to contribute to a socially just and anti-racist society, where people have their rights protected, as well as the opportunity to speak and be heard, and the freedom to express their creativity. And across all our work in A Fairer Future, we are keen to support organisations led by the people they serve.

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Hijinx Theatre

Creative, Confident Communities

We want to strengthen the bonds in communities, helping local people to build vibrant, confident places where they can fulfil their creative, human and economic potential. Places where the local economy works better for the people who live there, where there is equality of access to arts and culture, and where communities are at the heart of change.

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Our impact

  • £1,020.5m

    Total grants made since 1961

  • £48.8m

    Funding spend in 2024

  • £60m

    Allocation to social investment

  • 66%

    Grants for core or unrestricted costs in 2024

Latest

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  • Gemma Moore

    My grantmaking journey on the Involving Young People Collective

    Gemma Moore shares reflections on her three years as a consultant on Esmée’s Involving Young People Collective (IYPC), including what attracted her to her role, what she’s learned, and what she’s gained from the experience.

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  • The Ooooby team

    Environmental Finance and Learning Fund: increasing the supply of nature-first investment

    Jenny Sansom from Environmental Funders Network and Tom Colborne from Esmée share their reflections on the Environmental Finance and Learning Fund, a three-year initiative to build confidence and skills in environmental investing, and increase the amount of funding for impactful environmental projects.

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  • Tractor carrying bales of hay parked by a field with pigs grazing

    Financing the future of UK sustainable agriculture: from policy to investment

    After the Spending Review confirmed £2.7 billion a year for farming, food security and nature recovery, we asked Thomas Slattery and Hayley Mole, authors of our first investment deep dive into sustainable food and agriculture, how the policy landscape can enable the significant investment needed to transform the UK food system.

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