Dodgson Foundation

The Dodgson Foundation is a local grantmaker dedicated to enhancing wellbeing, independence, and dignity for older adults facing disadvantage, with a mission to deliver flexible relief from financial hardship, health challenges, social isolation, and deteriorating mental health. Guided by values of responsiveness to evolving local needs, empowerment of vulnerable elderly individuals, and pragmatic impact through targeted support, they believe meaningful change arises from adaptable grantmaking that bolsters charities delivering frontline services and provides direct aid to referred individuals, fostering social connectedness and quality of life via community-rooted partnerships and trustee-led prioritization of immediate, evidenced needs.

They prioritize elderly care services for people aged over 55 experiencing isolation, poverty, mental health decline, physical health limitations, and lack of support networks, funding befriending schemes to combat loneliness, advocacy for navigating social services and rights, practical support addressing daily hardships like utility bills or home adaptations, social care including day services and community outreach to promote mental wellbeing and independence, therapeutic activities for emotional resilience, peer support groups connecting isolated seniors, preventative interventions reducing hospital admissions through early health checks and mobility aids, and holistic programmes blending person-centred counselling with community-led activities like gentle exercise classes or reminiscence therapy. They back interventions relieving acute needs—such as emergency financial aid for those at risk of eviction or malnutrition—while sustaining long-term wellbeing via core funding for local charities offering residential respite care, drop-in centres, and holistic carer support for families assisting frail elderly relatives, emphasizing trauma-informed, inclusive approaches that empower older adults as active participants in their communities.

They exclude support for younger demographics, national or international initiatives, mainstream medical treatments, or projects lacking direct ties to Sussex older residents' realities, focusing instead on urban and rural elderly populations in local communities underserved by statutory services. Distinctive for their dual model of annual charity grants and responsive individual referrals from social services, rooted in local philanthropy, they uniquely blend established partnerships with agile adaptation to shifting challenges like post-pandemic isolation or economic pressures on pensioners, prioritizing grassroots providers demonstrating measurable relief and empowerment for the most isolated and disadvantaged seniors.