About us

Meet our team

Gillian Dickson

Gillian Dickson (Staff)
Social Investment Manager

Gillian Dickson

Before joining the Foundation, Gillian worked in various lending roles in the corporate banking sector and in development finance for the UK Government.


Latest

You might be interested in

  • Company Three-WHEN_THIS_IS_OVER_107.jpg

    Changing how we fund youth-led culture and creativity

    We are changing how we fund youth-led culture and creativity and plan to share our plans for a new funding programme in the New Year. To prepare, we will close to applications towards youth-led culture and creativity at 5pm on 10 November 2023.

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  • Woodland Trust-Smithills Estate-Still

    Developing our social investment strategy to support our mission

    Jonny Page, Esmée’s Head of Social and Impact Investment, outlines our plans for social investment and the opportunities it offers to support our mission.

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  • Spiderweb

    Testing a new approach to make New Connections

    We want to test a new approach to funding and are ringfencing £1.5m for New Connections funding to find and support organisations that could not, or would not, usually apply to Esmée. For the first phase in 2023 and 2024, we are starting with work led by and for communities experiencing racial inequity.

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  • Urban flowers in Sheffield ©Paul Hobson

    Pre-application Q&A webinar: 27 September 2023

    We hosted a pre-application Q&A webinar on 27 September for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance. Catch up on the recording and see all the questions answered.

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  • Strategic plan 2020-2025.png

    Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s strategy extended to 2027

    Esmée’s Trustee Board have agreed a two-year extension to our 2020 strategy, committing to our current funding priorities to the end of 2027.

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  • New trustees

    Esmée Fairbairn Foundation welcomes three new Trustees

    We are excited to welcome three new Trustees to Esmée’s Board: Elspeth Jones, Clare Moriarty and Mary Ann Sieghart.

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  • Bannau Brycheiniog, Wales

    Blue Spaces – Wales: our approach to assessing expressions of interest

    Earlier this year, we launched Blue Spaces – Wales, with an open call for expressions of interest for projects that support communities to improve their local freshwaters. Jenny Wheeldon, Esmée’s Freshwater Partnerships Manager, shares our approach to assessing applications and what’s next.

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  • Still Standing by Victor Ehikhamenor, St Paul's Cathedral - Image credit: Igwatala

    Inclusive Histories: engaging communities to reflect our shared past

    A new report on Inclusive Histories by British Future explores how arts and culture organisations are reflecting the complexity of our shared past, engaging communities to help shape the work, and navigating polarised responses.

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  • Articulate Cultural Trust (ACT)-Five young care experienced people standing on Abriachan Bridge.jpg

    Our response to the draft Children’s Social Care National Framework

    Janet Grauberg, Esmée’s learning partner for our Leaving Care Learning Programme, shares her reflections on the Government’s draft Children’s Social Care Framework and Dashboard, and how we and organisations we work with, have responded.

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  • AR-2022-frontpage

    Annual Report and Accounts for 2022

    Our 2022 Annual Report gives an overview of our operations, funding and investments during the year.

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  • Theatr Clwyd-Windows 4

    Funding Plus 2023 survey findings

    We asked people to share their experiences of capacity building support to help us understand what organisations most need right now.

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  • University of Derby Theatre-Odyssey - credit Earta Johnson.jpg

    Pre-application Q&A webinar: 20 June 2023

    We're hosting a pre-application Q&A webinar on 20 June for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance.

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  • People's Plan for Nature-WWF-Large_WW1253829.png

    Acting on feedback: what we've done so far

    After asking for your views on Esmée, we wanted to share back the steps we've taken so far to improve our processes and the information we share.

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  • Northern Roots-IMG-20220706-WA0015.jpg

    Update to Esmée’s expression of interest form

    We are making a couple of updates to our expression of interest form for applicants, which will be in place from 26 June. Applicants submitting an expression of interest before this date will still be able to do so using our existing form.

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  • RSA Food, Farming and Countryside Commission report

    Invitation to Tender: review of Nature friendly farming

    We're looking for someone to carry out a review to inform how we deliver our Nature friendly farming strategy.

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  • business-gb29a7c398_1920.jpg

    Impact of the rising cost of living on organisations we fund

    At the beginning of 2023, we offered most organisations we fund a 10% uplift on their grant to support them with the rising cost of living. We asked those with higher incomes how rising costs are impacting their work. Esmée's Learning Officer, Philippa Wilkinson, shares a snapshot of what people told us.

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  • Rosa-report.png

    Funding the UK Women and Girls Sector: Where Does the Money Go?

    Research commissioned by Rosa, the National Lottery Community Fund and Esmée maps the UK women and girls' sector and its funding. Annabel Durling, Funding Manager at Esmée, shares her reflections on the report's findings.

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  • Coram Family and Childcare LTD-Fam - 148.jpg

    Funding in memory of Baroness Linklater of Butterstone

    The Trustees of Esmée Fairbairn Foundation have made a grant of £160,000 to the charity Coram Family and Childcare in memory of Baroness Veronica Linklater, who was a Trustee of the Foundation from 1990 to 2013, and sadly died in December 2022.

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  • Twitter Post_Tagline.png

    Foundation Practice Rating Year 2: How Esmée did

    The Foundation Practice Rating (FPR) has published its second annual report assessing foundations on three areas of practice: diversity, accountability and transparency.

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  • River Dee, Wales.jpg

    Blue Spaces - Wales, Mannau Glas – Cymru: Call for expressions of interest

    Blue Spaces – Wales is a new initiative to support imaginative approaches to looking after local freshwaters – rivers, streams, lakes, canals and ponds. As part of this, we're launching an open call for ideas and projects in Wales.

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  • Repowering London-NKCE_Westway.jpg

    Funder Commitment on Climate Change: 2022 update

    Read our 2022 update on our work towards the six goals of the Funder Commitment on Climate Change.

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  • Action for Conservation

    Invitation to Tender: mapping work on diversity in the environment sector

    We are commissioning a review of existing and planned initiatives which aim to address a lack of diversity in the environment sector in the UK.

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  • Wessex Chalk Streams and Rivers Trust staff delivering schools river education programme in partnership with Winchester College

    Working in partnership to support Blue Spaces in the UK

    Esmée’s Freshwater Partnerships Development Manager, Jenny Wheeldon, shares our plans for a Blue Spaces programme to support people and organisations to take imaginative approaches to looking after their freshwater environments.

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  • Element

    Government consults on its plan for children's social care reform in England

    Read a summary of the Government's response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care in England, along with their plan for children's social care reform.

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  • Green landscape with stream running through.png

    Cost of living uplift

    Caroline Mason, Esmée's Chief Executive shares her reflections on the additional support we are offering to most organisations we fund in response to the rising cost of living.

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  • Veronica Linklater.png

    Remembering Baroness Veronica Linklater

    Baroness Veronica Linklater was a Trustee at Esmée Fairbairn Foundation from 1990 to 2013.

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  • Gina Landscape.jpg

    Esmée's response to the Cost of Living crisis

    In recognition of the extraordinary rise in the cost of living over the past year, we are committing an extra £7.4m to organisations we fund who are being affected by rising costs.

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  • Veda.png

    Reflections on the Commission on Culture and Local Government

    Following the publication of the Commission on Culture and Local Government’s final report, Cornerstones of Culture, Veda Harrison, Esmée’s Director of Creative, Confident Communities and A Fairer Future, shares her reflections.

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  • The Music Works-SNY08099 (1).jpg

    Who is our funding reaching?

    Using the DEI Data Standard, we started gathering data on organisations we fund as well as those applying to us so that we can better understand who our funding is reaching, and make progress towards our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

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