Hedley Foundation Limited

The Hedley Foundation is an endowed grant-giving body rooted in a legacy of engineering innovation, dedicated to enhancing quality of life for disadvantaged people across the United Kingdom through support for small charities delivering practical social interventions. Its core values emphasize inclusive enrichment, tangible life improvements, fairness, respect, and empowerment of grassroots organizations to provide flexible, needs-led solutions addressing vulnerability and exclusion. Funding decisions prioritize direct impact on marginalized lives, believing sustainable change arises from community-based, beneficiary-driven projects that foster independence, connection, and wellbeing without reliance on mainstream resources.

It funds welfare and development initiatives for young people including enrichment programmes, after-school clubs, mentoring, and skills-building activities tackling barriers to opportunity and social isolation; disability services for children and adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, and complex health needs through inclusion activities, special education support, sports programmes, therapeutic outings, and independence-building interventions; elderly care projects combating isolation via befriending, day services, and community engagement; hospice and palliative care for the terminally ill alongside respite care and emotional support for families and carers; and broader work with disadvantaged groups facing economic hardship, offering volunteer-led outreach, peer support groups, creative arts, outdoor activities, and targeted community therapies like boat trips promoting social connection and mental health. Supported models include person-centred direct delivery, preventative community-led services, trauma-informed care, and holistic family support emphasizing early intervention to prevent crisis and build resilience.

Exclusions encompass core salaries, general running costs, building construction, transport, financial deficits, overseas projects, and unrestricted core funding, focusing solely on defined project, capital, and revenue needs. Distinctive priorities target small grassroots charities serving young people at risk, families caring for disabled or terminally ill relatives, isolated elderly, and carers through practical, demonstrable interventions unlikely to attract statutory support, with a national emphasis on UK communities needing inclusive, hands-on solutions for vulnerability.