Leaitherland: Income for generations to come
The partners of listed law firm DWF have donated 1.8m shares, currently worth £2.1m, to its charitable foundation.
The award will enable the DWF Foundation to expand and sustain its grant-giving across the UK and internationally.
The shares, which were issued two months ago at 122p, closed at 117p yesterday.
Set up in December 2015, the foundation’s sole aim is to provide “funds, resources and support to help communities achieve their full potential”.
Since then, it has awarded 110 grants totalling over £250,000.
The foundation supports registered charities with an impact in one or more of homelessness, health and wellbeing, employability and education.
Grants are aimed at initiatives that develop and improve local communities by tackling a specific community issue, or helping voluntary and community groups become more effective and efficient.
Other specific goals are encouraging the involvement in the community of those too often excluded and enabling young people to develop skills for the benefit of the community.
Recipients to date include the ADHD Foundation, backing a project for young people with a diagnosis of ADHD and secondary related diagnoses to undertake diversionary activities and structured health-based learning outcomes.
The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium received support for a project promoting good mental health and positive attitudes towards mental wellbeing in the context of art and creativity, while the foundation paid for St Oswald’s Hospice to have a specialist car seat installed in its minibus to transport certain children after rules changed about them travelling in their wheelchairs.
The 100th grant was awarded earlier this year to Liverpool-based charity The Bosco Society to help its campaign to reduce homelessness in the local communities.
The project delivers pre-tenancy awareness, budgeting, life skills and other training sessions for residents that will enable them to gain the skills needed to live independently.
Andrew Leaitherland, CEO of DWF, said: “When we set out on the IPO journey, one of the objectives we identified was to create a legacy for the DWF Foundation – and that’s what has been achieved.
“These shares will be used to establish an endowment for the foundation, generating income for generations to come.”
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