The Trust generally awards grants of under £10,000 to smaller UK registered charities working in the UK and/or overseas that have difficulty in gaining funds from other organisations. Recipients range from charities helping children to hospices providing children’s palliative care.
The Paphitis Charitable Trust is the grant-making Trust founded by Greek Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur, Theo Pathitis, best known as a former investor on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den. He is the owner of the Theo Paphitis Retail Group, which includes well-known high street brands like Ryman Stationery, Robert Dyas, and Boux Avenue.
The Paphitis Charitable Trust distributes Theo’s fees from TV appearances, speeches and his books to causes close to his heart, especially children’s charities. Funds received are then distributed by a panel of trustees to a variety of registered charities.
The Trust typically assists smaller UK charities that have difficulty in gaining funds from other organisations. Since it launched in 2005, the Paphitis Charitable Trust has donated over £1.6 million to UK charities.
While the Trust has general charitable objectives, it tends to direct its grant-making to charities supporting children and young people in the UK and overseas in the areas of:
- Education
- Sport
- The relief of poverty
- Care in the community, and
- General charitable purposes
Please note that the Trust does not have a website or publish a list of grant recipients in its annual accounts. However, some information about the Trust is available on Theo Paphitis’ website, while page 13 of the accounts lists several grant recipients. It also states that at least 25 grants of £10,000 or less were made to UK charities last year.
Contact the Trust to ask about the prospect of securing grant support.