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Graeae Theatre

  • An open door looking into a space at Civic Square that has groups of people sat around tables having a discussion
    22 January 2026

    Overview of grant funding 2025

    Overview of the grants we made in 2025, broken down by type of support, amount awarded, and by aim and funding priority. We also share success rates for applications in 2025.

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  • Esmée Trustees and staff

    Updates to Esmée’s Board of Trustees

    We welcome Harriet Manners, the great-granddaughter of Esmée's founder, Ian Fairbairn, as Trustee. We also share updates including the appointment of Professor Claire Alexander as Vice Chair of the Bard of Trustees.

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  • Group of people at a 'reimagining leadership' residential hosted by Common Purpose and Makani Cambridge

    What’s needed for equitable and diverse leadership in the environment sector

    In a guest blog, Azzam Al Kassir from Makani Cambridge shares reflections on the work they’ve been leading on with Common Purpose to co-design a leadership programme to support a more equitable and diverse environment sector, and why an ecosystem approach is needed.

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  • Group of people at a 'reimagining leadership' residential hosted by Common Purpose and Makani Cambridge

    Reimagining leadership in the environment sector webinar, 29 January

    Join us for a webinar on 29 January with Common Purpose and Makani Cambridge who have been leading work to reimagine leadership in the environment sector to support a more diverse and equitable sector. We'll also be sharing more about next steps and how you can get involved.

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  • Esmée staff looking at the site at Ubele Wolves Lane

    Esmée staff and Trustee diversity data 2025

    Analysis from the 2025 diversity survey of Esmée Trustees and staff to help us track progress on diversity, equity and inclusion within the organisation.

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  • Estuary on the west coast in Scotland

    Learning from Esmée’s Blue Spaces programme: Webinar on 11 December

    Watch a webinar we held on 11 December to explore learning from Esmée's Blue Spaces programme, which was established to support communities to take action to improve their local freshwaters.

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  • MULTISTORY_ENDZ_jul22_1G4A1274

    Pre-application Q&A webinar: 5 February 2026

    We're hosting a pre-application Q&A webinar on 5 February at 2pm to 3.15pm for organisations interested in applying to Esmée for support who have questions about our application process or guidance.

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  • Illustration showing a lake with a few people doing citizen science to monitor the freshwater quality

    Blue Spaces: Working in partnership to improve local freshwaters in the UK

    The Blue Spaces programme set out to support people and organisations to take imaginative approaches to looking after their freshwater environments. Read our report, which shares the collective learning of everyone involved – from the funding process to the different approaches of the 19 funded projects, and the learning programme co-designed with them.

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  • Members of the Involving Young People Collective having a meal during a Blue Spaces site visit.

    Blue Spaces: Reflections on youth leadership, trust and place-based funding

    Thalia Papanicolaou from HUDL Youth Development Agency shares her insights into how the Blue Spaces programme unfolded - and why this way of working with young people created such meaningful change.

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  • Groups of people convened by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Civic Square sat around tables having a discussion.

    Acting on feedback: what we’ve done in 2025

    After hearing your feedback, we’re sharing the actions we’ve taken in 2025 to improve our processes, make our guidance clearer, and support a more inclusive approach.

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