In October 2024 the Sir Halley Stewart Trust was proud to celebrate its 100th anniversary. To mark this special milestone, the Trust held a series of events and launched three publications to share findings from an independent outcomes and impact review.
Over 150 guests attended the events, hosted by leading broadcaster and writer Fi Glover and our Trustees.
Our aims and aspirations for the centenary were to:
- Celebrate 100 years of grant-making, and honour Sir Halley and the history of the Trust.
- Share the independent evaluation of the impact of the Trust’s work over the past century.
- Encourage others (grantees and grantors) to have a greater focus on evaluating the impact of their work.
- Highlight some areas of special interest and concern to the Trust.
- Encourage conversations between individuals with shared areas of interest, and inspire potential partnerships and future areas of work.
“I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s events and would like for you to pass on my thanks for enabling me to participate in what was a truly inspirational series of presentations, and especially the opportunity to network with trustees and others.”
Event 1) Evaluating grant outcomes and impacts over 100 years and beyond
At our first event Helix Research & Evaluation gave two presentations and a Q&A session on “Learning from the past: legacy for the future: Reviewing the past and future impact of the Trust’s grant-making”.
This event shared findings from a four-year independent research project commissioned by the Trust, led by Caroline Thomas, Ruth Townsley and Margaret Macadam. The team had reviewed a century’s worth of documents from the Trust’s archives to provide a comprehensive 100 Year Review, and worked with the Trust and its grantees to design and implement an approach to mapping and reviewing the outcomes and impacts of current and future Trust-funded projects.
The Trust is keen to share learning and resources across the sector, and has therefore published both research reports in full, together with a companion celebratory centenary brochure – all three are available here.
Event 2) Medical, Religious and Social sectors: Challenges and opportunities for grant- funders, communities and government
At our second event we were delighted to welcome three guest speakers who are leaders in their fields, to give talks relating to the Trust’s funding priority areas and participate in a panel Q&A session:
“Shaping the Future of Palliative Care: Cicely’s Vision, Medical Innovation, Societal Impact, and the Power of Philanthropy”
Irene Higginson, Professor of Palliative Care and Policy at KCL, Scientific Director at Cicely Saunders International and NIHR Senior Investigator (Emeritus)
“I wanted to express my sincere thanks for including me in your centenary celebrations. It was a real honour to have the opportunity to speak to your trustees and invitees, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the presentations, the discussions, the excellent documents you shared, and the wonderful reception afterwards.”
“Compassion or Control: What next for the treatment of refugees in the UK?”
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council
“A Changing Spiritual Landscape: Finding wisdom in turbulent times”
Elizabeth Oldfield, Host of The Sacred podcast and author of “Fully Alive”
Event 3) Grantee Reception
Our final event was a reception for former and current grantees, to thank them and celebrate their work, and to encourage conversations and explorations of new possibilities in their fields.
With Trustee presentations, stalls showcasing funded projects, and opportunities to network with peers, we are delighted that grantees found the evening useful and that potential collaborations are now being explored as a result.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to share our work and connect with the Trustees and other grant holders.”
Thank you so much to our speakers, grantees, descendants of Sir Halley, colleagues in the grant-making sector, and former Trustees and staff for sharing this special occasion with the Trust. We are proud to have honoured Sir Halley’s legacy in this way, and to have celebrated the remarkable achievements of the projects the Trust has funded over the years.
“It was an excellent way to celebrate the Trust at a hundred and Sir Halley’s generosity which has enabled all the grantees to develop their projects. I very much enjoyed learning from the other stall holders about their work, and from other grantees about the variety of projects the Trust has supported. The room had a real buzz and it was a pleasure to be part of it.”
