Sir Tom Cowie Charitable Trust

The Sir Tom Cowie Charitable Trust is a grant-making charity founded by entrepreneur Sir Tom Cowie with a mission to create opportunities for young people and enhance quality of life in less affluent communities through social mobility, education, and targeted support for the disadvantaged. Core values emphasize opportunity, inclusion, community development, environmental stewardship, and heritage preservation, driven by a philosophy of realizing potential for talented individuals regardless of background via regionally responsive, sustainable interventions. They prioritize trustees-led partnerships with small local charities delivering direct, catalytic services fostering long-term individual and community uplift through youth-focused empowerment, educational equity, and environmental connection.

The Trust funds youth development initiatives including detached youth work, after-school enrichment, mentoring, and skills training for disadvantaged children and young people aged 5-25 facing poverty, rural isolation, or social barriers; educational advancement via scholarships and programs for high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds pursuing university-level study; mental health and wellbeing support through arts, music, sports, and creative activities promoting emotional resilience and social inclusion; environmental education projects linking urban youth with countryside experiences via outdoor activities, nature conservation, and wildlife protection for threatened species; heritage preservation efforts conserving historic buildings and community history projects strengthening cultural ties. They support direct service delivery models like community-led outreach, therapeutic outdoor programs, peer mentoring, and school-based interventions addressing youth unemployment, social isolation, family poverty, and lack of access to enriching opportunities, seeking preventative, holistic outcomes that build confidence, employability, and community cohesion.

They exclude core costs, unrestricted support, and capital projects unless tightly aligned with youth or environmental priorities, avoiding large national charities or misaligned applications. Distinctive for deep commitment to disadvantaged youth in North East urban and rural valley communities, preference for grassroots organizations delivering tangible youth work and educational uplift, and unique blend of social mobility with heritage and wildlife conservation, prioritizing high-potential young people from poverty alongside environmental stewardship for sustainable regional legacy.