New Director’s Reflections and November Grants List

I joined the Dulverton Trust in the summer of 2024 after 15+ years working for charities focused on social mobility, DEI, and fair access to education and employment. Having spent many years on the “other side of the table,” I am acutely aware of the challenges facing many charities. Since joining the Dulverton Trust, I have also seen how fragile our sector is and how critical it is to provide stability in the current climate. 

Many have asked about my plans as the new Director. Will I be ripping up the Dulverton rule book and starting afresh? Launching a strategy refresh? Changing our grants process? 

The simple answer is no. I don’t feel compelled to “make my mark” or to “rip up the rule book” — you pick your expression! 

After listening to and engaging with many charities over the past few months, it is abundantly clear that the sector is crying out for stability, consistency, and trust. It doesn’t need a leader on a crusade, but a leader who is kind and compassionate. I can see the care and thought put into developing our processes, the rationale behind our approach, and the clarity in our methodology. What if good leadership is about being consistent and showing up when people need you the most? 

Does this mean that I won’t change anything? No. I just don’t see the need to do it now, in the existing climate. For me, it’s about evolution, not revolution — small, incremental changes when the time and conditions are right. 

For now, the Dulverton Trust will continue doing what we do best: providing grants to incredible charities and being a kind and supportive funder to those navigating deeply turbulent times. We will continue contributing to the sector through our ideas and thought leadership and partnering with other funders to bring about more strategic, systemic change. 

We’ve come a long way over the past 75 years (yes, it’s our birthday), and I am quietly confident that we will continue creating impact for the next 75 as well.

With that, I am thrilled to welcome our November grantees to the fold. Thank you for your incredible work to date and for the impact you are making on your local communities. We look forward to championing you and your work over the coming months and years. At our November meeting, we were pleased to award £977,951 in new grants.

As always, we have published the list of grants here and you can search the new grants using 360Giving’s Grantnav website here. We were pleased to continue to award several unrestricted grants, and support six charities new to us.

Our next round of grants will be made in February 2025.