What do we do
The Utley Foundation was founded in 2014 by Neil Utley and Nicky Utley with an endowment of £25million to advance causes close to the hearts of the trustees.
Grant-making is a big part of the Foundation’s work* and to date we have distributed over £10million in grants to organisations and projects working in our core areas of interest - Music for Dementia, Veterans, Children and International & Refugees. We have also leveraged at least another £3.5million in shared investment funds.
From the beginning, our trustees wanted the Utley Foundation to “do more than cheques” and be a true catalyst for system change. This means getting under the hood of a problem and developing a theory of change that combines grant-making with wider activity, such as policy development, service delivery, awareness raising and coalition building.
The result is a unique Utley brand of ‘campaigning philanthropy’, seen most evidently in our first flagship programme, Music for Dementia.
Whether it’s supporting families affected by dementia to use music, helping children thrive, providing aid in crisis zones, or giving back to veterans, our aim is to create a positive ripple effect that reaches far and wide.
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We’ve invested £7 million in our Music for Dementia programme. More than two thirds has been distributed in grants to impactful projects across the UK, including choirs, playlist initiatives, dementia cafés, carer training, conferences, art exhibitions and concerts.
At least £3.5 million more has been generated for grantmaking through shared investment approaches such as the Power of Music Fund, kickstarted with a £1 million contribution from the Utley Foundation.
The Music for Dementia campaign has enhanced our grant-making through policy development, awareness raising and delivery of special projects like the award-winningm4dradio.com.
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Our trustees have huge respect and admiration for all armed forces veterans, especially those who have worked in the Special Forces. Our mission is to improve wellbeing during and after service. We started a strategic grant-making programme in 2024 with £1.5million committed to date.
We are focused on strengthening mental health support for serving personnel and their families, and at the point of transition. We also want to see investment in the the community-level eco-system to ensure a safety net is in place for the most vulnerable veterans.
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We have awarded £1.6million to organisations supporting children and young people. Projects include disability services, child health, creative arts, music, play schemes, and scholarship programs for disadvantaged children and young people.
In 2024 we established The Leon Schiteanu Memorial Programme as a sub-strand of our main Children Programme, to support those affected by child bereavement.
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We have distributed over £750,000 to organisations working internationally and with refugees in the UK, making this our third-largest area of grant making.
Our support has spanned a diverse range of grantees, from well-known organisations to smaller grassroots groups doing innovative, specialised work in some of the most challenging environments.
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We have made small donations totalling more than £500,000 to different charities and causes. These funds have supported action-based fundraising efforts for everything from local community events to memorial donations to sports challenges. These highlight the priority our trustees place on supporting others in their efforts to make a difference.
*We are sorry but we do not accept unsolicited requests for funding. We know how much work goes in to crafting an ask, and our small staff team does not have capacity to do unsolicited applications justice.
