The Roundhouse Studios received £5m to work with young people
Robert Dufton, director of the foundation, talks to Jenna Pudelek about how the organisation is marking its 25th birthday
The Paul Hamlyn Foundation is marking its 25th anniversary by making a series of major gifts to charities that share its mission.
The first to benefit is the Roundhouse Studios, a creative centre beneath the Roundhouse music venue in Camden, London. The studios this month received a £5m endowment for its work with disadvantaged 11-to-25-year-olds in music, media and performing arts.
Robert Dufton, director of the foundation, is finalising the handful of other charities that will receive similar windfalls this year. He says: "They will all be related to our mission to enable individuals and communities to experience a better quality of life."
Such endowments are not typical of the foundation's general awards, which Dufton says total about £20m a year. They usually average about £90,000.
The grant-making organisation was founded by the publishing magnate Paul Hamlyn in 1987 and works in four areas - social justice, the arts, education and non-governmental organisations in India. At the end of 2011/12, it was worth £559.6m.
The foundation runs an open grants scheme that is accessible to organisations with charitable aims, including local authority departments such as museums and libraries.
Examples of recent grants include £150,000 to the Welsh charity Llamau, to work with 14-to-19-year-olds at risk of becoming homeless.
"It had been working with an older age group but identified there was a need to work on a more preventive basis," Dufton says. "I think this characterises a lot of what we do - we enable problems to be addressed before they become entrenched."
The foundation also has a special initiatives programme that works on areas of specific need. An existing example is Right Here, a £6m programme in partnership with the Mental Health Foundation to reduce the risk of young people being damaged by mental health problems.
"We believe passionately that people should have a greater say in their own lives, particularly those who are most marginalised," says Dufton.
