Gallaher Trust

The Gallaher Trust is an independent charity founded to drive sustainable economic and social regeneration in Ballymena communities hit by major job losses, with a mission to advance adult employability, skills development, and life opportunities for those facing deep disadvantage. Core values emphasize partnership-led empowerment, community resilience, measurable outcomes, and holistic support tackling barriers like disability, low income, mental health challenges, homelessness, and domestic violence. Their grantmaking philosophy prioritizes innovative, scalable interventions through trusted not-for-profit partners, believing lasting change arises from collaborative employability pathways, capacity building, and targeted alleviation of hardship to foster confidence, progression, and inclusion.

They fund employment programmes and upskilling initiatives for unemployed low-income adults, including vocational academies, business incubation, specialist skills training, accredited qualifications, and transitional placements in partnership with local businesses; support for adults with learning disabilities through employment engagement, circular economy recycling centres, and day services promoting independence; employability mentoring and holistic pathways for ex-offenders and young adults facing barriers; dementia risk reduction and prevention activities for older people with mild cognitive impairment; personal development and reintegration programmes for women victims of domestic abuse; mental health crisis intervention via support facilities, counselling, and peer groups; and essential outreach for homeless adults including drop-in centres and hardship relief. Interventions focus on person-centred, preventative, trauma-informed approaches delivering sustainable job creation, skills gains, health improvements, emotional wellbeing, and community cohesion for highly marginalised adults.

They exclude for-profit ventures, projects lacking direct Ballymena community benefit, and unrestricted organisational costs, prioritising multi-year delivery by charitable partners with outcomes-focused monitoring. Distinctive for its hyper-local economic regeneration ethos post-industrial decline, adult-centric employability over youth focus, structured emphasis on job creation alongside hardship relief, and preference for evidence-based, partner-led models addressing ex-offenders, learning disabled adults, domestic abuse survivors, older people at dementia risk, mental health crisis cases, and homeless individuals in economically challenged locales.