Valentine Charitable Trust

Valentine Charitable Trust champions environmental stewardship and community empowerment by filling gaps in public amenities and facilities not provided by statutory authorities, with a founding vision of safeguarding countryside, wildlife, and reducing pollution for enduring local impact. Core values emphasize responsive partnerships, long-term engagement, and flexible support including core funding and repeat grants to build sustainable capacity, believing change arises through catalytic investments in grassroots organizations that diversify income, demonstrate positive outcomes, and foster community resilience via relationship-driven stewardship.

Prioritizes community development projects delivering public amenities like village hall refurbishments and equipment for hospices serving elderly residents with complex health needs or isolation, alongside environmental conservation initiatives including wildlife protection, countryside preservation, pollution reduction efforts, and environmental education programs promoting sustainability. Supports capital funding for community infrastructure enhancing social cohesion and access for rural communities, core costs for established local charities addressing under-resourced public benefits, and small-scale overseas projects advancing local sustainability in developing world contexts through community-led conservation and resource stewardship. Funds interventions like habitat restoration, green space creation, therapeutic outdoor activities for wellbeing, and facility upgrades enabling inclusive day services, respite care access, and peer community gatherings, targeting residents facing service gaps in recreation, elderly care, and nature-based resilience-building.

Excludes statutory services, national organizations lacking local ties, and projects duplicating well-funded provision; prioritizes Dorset and southern England rural communities, isolated residents, and established grassroots charities with proven local impact. Distinctive for proactive, invitation-led relationship-building, openness to unrestricted core and multi-year funding, match funding flexibility to leverage wider resources, and niche focus on tangible environmental and communal stewardship that prevents dependency while amplifying voluntary sector innovation in conservation and public amenity gaps.