Sir Reo Stakis Charitable Foundation

The Sir Reo Stakis Charitable Foundation, established in 1984 by Scottish hotelier and philanthropist Sir Reo Stakis, is a major independent grantmaking trust dedicated to relieving poverty, advancing health, education, religion, and the arts, preserving wildlife, and promoting equality and diversity. Rooted in Scotland with a generalist ethos, it emphasizes flexible responses to social issues, guided by values of addressing hardship, enhancing community welfare, enabling arts and culture access, and fostering inclusive progress through durable quality-of-life improvements.

It funds a broad spectrum of impactful initiatives, including major arts and heritage projects like the £100,000 Paisley Museum redevelopment, poverty relief via foodbanks such as Bo’ness Storehouse, health programs through Maggie’s Centres and WaterAid, education, community regeneration, and international development. Support spans capital projects, core costs, and specific programs, favoring well-established charities delivering significant local/regional benefits, particularly in Scotland with occasional UK-wide reach.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, with a preference for medium-to-large organizations showing strong track records; grassroots groups are rarely funded. No strict income thresholds apply, though established entities undertaking substantial projects are prioritized.

Grants typically range from £10,000 to £100,000, occasionally exceeding six figures for transformative work. Invite-only with no open applications or deadlines—trustees meet ad hoc and select beneficiaries at their discretion. Charities may send a written enquiry, but success depends on trustee invitation. Distinctively, as one of Scotland’s largest funders, it enables high-impact interventions blending heritage, arts, and community resilience without rigid thematic silos or exclusions beyond alignment with its objects.