We aim to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK.
Turner Contemporary
Our Natural World
We want  to ensure that our natural world is restored and protected and that people benefit from that recovery. Working with others, we will contribute to three key impact goals: preserved and improved species health and habitats, clean and healthy freshwater, and sustainable and ethical food.
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A Fairer Â鶹´«Ã½
We want to contribute to a socially just and anti-racist society, where people have their rights protected, as well as the opportunity to speak and be heard, and the freedom to express their creativity. And across all our work in A Fairer Â鶹´«Ã½, we are keen to support organisations led by the people they serve.
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Creative, Confident Communities
We want to strengthen the bonds in communities, helping local people to build vibrant, confident places where they can fulfil their creative, human and economic potential. Places where the local economy works better for the people who live there, where there is equality of access to arts and culture, and where communities are at the heart of change.
Find out moreOur impact
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£1,020.5³¾
Total grants made since 1961
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£48.8³¾
Funding spend in 2024
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£60³¾
Allocation to social investment
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66%
Grants for core or unrestricted costs in 2024
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About Esmée
Learn about our people, our governance and history as well as our approach to investment and see our annual reports.
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Our aims
Learn more about our impact goals and priorities for the next five years. We also share insights and learning as well as information about what we fund.
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Our support
Working in collaboration with others, we use all our tools to achieve our shared goals and to effect broader change. Learn more about our range of tools and support.
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Open and trusting grant-making
Learn about our commitments to open and trusting grant-making, which is part of a campaign launched by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR).
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Involving young people
We want to do better at listening to and involving young people more directly with our work so we're working with the Involving Young People Collective to help us design and test ways in which we can do this.
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You might be interested in
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24 June 2025Environmental Finance and Learning Fund: increasing the supply of nature-first investment
Jenny Sansom from Environmental Funders Network and Tom Colborne from Esmée share their reflections on the Environmental Finance and Learning Fund, a three-year initiative to build confidence and skills in environmental investing, and increase the amount of funding for impactful environmental projects.
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Financing the future of UK sustainable agriculture: from policy to investment
After the Spending Review confirmed £2.7 billion a year for farming, food security and nature recovery, we asked Thomas Slattery and Hayley Mole, authors of our first investment deep dive into sustainable food and agriculture, how the policy landscape can enable the significant investment needed to transform the UK food system.
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How can we support lived experience in the workplace
Together with Peer Power Youth and Place Matters, we're pleased to share a report, Supporting Employees with Lived Experience, with learning from 24 social impact organisations as part of a peer learning exchange on lived experience. Esmée Funding Manager, Genevieve Ford-Saville, writes about how the group came about and what's next for this work.
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My experience on the Involving Young People Collective
Francesca Hutchin, a member of Esmée’s Involving Young People Collective, shares reflections on being part of the Collective, the different working relationships, and experience of assessing grants.
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