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The Guy Readman Endowment Fund was established with a very generous £2.5 million legacy gift given by the late Guy Readman OBE – former North East businessman of the year – to the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. The fund is overseen by Guy’s daughters Jane Greenshields and Jill Potier Godinho (who are also successor advisors to the Readman Family Grassroots Fund) and has reached a significant landmark of giving £1 million in grants. Since 2017, more than 70 grants have been made to organisations across the region supporting a range of causes, from tackling poverty and increasing volunteering in its early days to sustaining local infrastructure and the environment more recently.
Ross Wilson, Senior Philanthropy Advisor at the Community Foundation, said:
“It has been my privilege to manage Guy Readman’s legacy fund and see first-hand the significant impact it has made. Jane and Jill’s commitment to seeing their father’s legacy used wisely and effectively is hugely commendable and the flexibility of their giving has allowed us to address an array of issues pertinent to the North East. Thanks to the endowment model, the fund will continue giving at scale for years to come and Guy’s generosity will proudly live on.”
Jane has explained how the endowment was a fitting testament to her father:
“My father was proud of his North East roots. He felt it was important to invest in and give back to the region. I feel privileged to be actively involved in how and where his legacy is spent, and I welcome how it helps keep the memories of both him and his involvement with our local community strong.”
A common theme for the fund has been the support provided to children and young people. To date, Jane’s recommended grants for young people have totalled £100,500, which has included supporting summer holiday playschemes, as well as four-year funding for the King’s Trust’s (formerly the Prince’s Trust) programmes in enterprise and personal development.
Björn Risi, Service Delivery Manager for Enterprise in the North East, said:
“Quite simply without the grants and support given by the Guy Readman Endowment Fund, many young people would not realise their potential and dreams through starting their own business. The support it gives keeps on giving because these young people can build their independence and through their businesses, go on to provide employment and prosperity for others in their communities.”
A passion for Jane is to support literacy development, and to this end, grants totalling £65,000 have been provided. Amongst this support has included funding for The Children’s Foundation, which supports children and young people with research and projects that improve their health, wellbeing, resilience, and safety. One such grant has facilitated the building of a ‘Reading Rocks Shed’ at Tyneview Primary School in Walker, which led to 83% of pupils progressing to reading at their nationally expected reading ages, something all the more significant given that the project was launched during the pandemic.
Sean Soulsby, CEO, at the time of the grant said:
“There has been a lot of national press and media coverage about the negative impact on children’s education due to school closures because of Covid-19. Our Reading Rocks Project will help children catch up on their reading and literacy in the coming months. This is an amazing space made possible by funding from the Guy Readman Endowment Fund and is something that has been designed with and for the children here at Tyneview Primary. Together with the school we are confident this resource will enable the children to catch up.”
Meanwhile, an area of particular interest for Jill has been to help aspiring young people:
“When my father first donated to the Community Foundation, his main focus of giving was to help young people to help themselves. I decided to continue with this theme, but to focus specifically on academically gifted children, who may not have the opportunity or support (both parental and financial) to pursue higher education. Children who benefitted from this funding were to be called ‘Guy Readman Rising Stars’.”
As part of the programme, the fund awarded £186,612 to The Social Mobility Foundation to provide mentoring and internship support to 60 pupils over a two-year period, helping them to secure university places or internships programmes, and will also enable the organisation to develop its local employer partnerships across Newcastle.
Katie Stamps, Head of Programme Delivery, said:
“Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. At The Social Mobility Foundation, our vision is for a society where talent from all social backgrounds is nurtured, harnessed, and rewarded. We are honoured to have been supported by The Guy Readman Endowment Fund, which has helped over 100 Guy Readman Rising Stars through our Aspiring Professionals Programme since 2019, providing life-changing opportunities to young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the North East.”
YMCA Newcastle has also benefitted from the programme. A two-year grant enabled it to build closer relationships with local schools, colleges, and other young people services and employ a Progression Coach – Jodene – to work directly with young people who had been referred on. She specialises in supporting them to explore career opportunities and discuss their goals. One such example was at Benfield School:
“The Rising Stars programme has enabled us to access intensive support for pupils facing significant barriers, which they may not have otherwise accessed. Jodene’s support for the pupil she has been working with has been amazing. She has built up an excellent relationship and her consistent guidance has helped this pupil to understand their post-16 options in the UK, their skills and qualities and supported their decision-making.”