Ashley Family Foundation

The Ashley Family Foundation, established in 1986 by Sir Bernard and Laura Ashley, embodies a mission to harness creative enterprise for community benefit, social inclusion, and cultural enrichment, inspired by revitalizing mid-Wales rural life. Core values champion strengthening isolated rural communities, fostering teamwork, social mobility, and opportunities for the most disadvantaged through arts, crafts, and heritage preservation. Their grantmaking philosophy prioritizes relational partnerships with grassroots organizations, believing transformative impact arises from empowering small-scale creative endeavors that build enduring social capital, alleviate exclusion, and sustain rural wellbeing via community-led cultural and environmental initiatives.

They prioritize arts including painting, design, textiles, music, dance, theatre, film, and photography; heritage crafts emphasizing at-risk skills and traditional techniques; arts education through workshops and training; rural wellbeing projects addressing social isolation and loneliness; community cohesion via festivals and events; and environmental sustainability efforts integrated with creative activities. Supported interventions include creative workshops for isolated elderly residents and disadvantaged young people aged 5-25, youth arts initiatives promoting social mobility and employability skills, community arts events building peer support networks, rural skills training in heritage crafts for families and adults facing scarcity, therapeutic arts activities for emotional wellbeing, and grassroots projects preserving cultural heritage while enhancing connectivity in underserved villages. They seek solutions tackling rural disadvantage, social exclusion, and environmental challenges through person-centred, community-led creative expression that fosters inclusion, confidence, and intergenerational bonds.

Exclusions encompass funding to individuals, direct school support, religious projects, sports, animal welfare, medical causes, or well-resourced initiatives. Priority beneficiaries are isolated rural communities, disadvantaged youth, elderly experiencing loneliness, and families in mid-Wales villages seeking creative access. Distinctive for deep family-rooted affinity to Welsh heritage, long-term relational support for small grassroots charities, and niche fusion of arts, crafts, and sustainability to empower creatively enriched, resilient rural populations over top-down or generic interventions.