The foundation set up by Redrow’s Steve Morgan has promised to invest £20m a year for the next five years to tackle social disadvantage and to back research into type 1 diabetes.
The Steve Morgan Foundation was set up in 2001 to provide funding and support to not-for-profit organisations. It has backed projects ranging from cancer care centres to career programmes in “left-behind communities”.
Now it has announced a new long-term strategy for its £100m investments over the next five years. The organisation said: “Building on the success of strategic partnerships to date, the Foundation will deliver large-scale, long-term investments to improve outcomes in education, employment, and ensuring access to provision for those that need it the most, using learnings from previous projects to deliver an even greater impact.”
Liverpool-born Steve Morgan founded North Wales-based Redrow when he was 21 and grew it into one of Britain’s biggest and best-known housebuilders, before he left as chairman in 2019. He also owned Wolverhampton Wanderers from 2007 to 2016. Since 2001 Mr Morgan has personally donated more than £300m to his foundation.
He said: “This is a pivotal moment for the Foundation as we continue to drive proper impact across our region. We recognise that these are really tough times for so many communities who are facing poverty and a lack of meaningful opportunities. This is why we are significantly scaling up our support and pledging £20m each year for the next five years to support collaborative partnerships that tackle these issues head on.”
Liam Eaglestone, CEO at the Steve Morgan Foundation, added: “We remain deeply committed to the region we’ve long supported - Merseyside, North Wales, West Cheshire, and North Shropshire. By combining our financial resources with the expertise of our partners, we are determined to break the cycle of social disadvantage, creating long lasting impact across our region.”
Mr Morgan added: “I am proud and humbled at what we have achieved through the Foundation over the past 25 years, but now is the time for meaningful change and a new strategic direction. We are committed to ensuring that the Steve Morgan Foundation delivers powerful and lasting change, starting now, investing £20m every year for the next five years.”
Mr Morgan pointed to ongoing foundation successes, including the Cradle to Career (C2C) programme in Birkenhead that brought together local organisations to improve literacy standards in the town and to help improve the lives of children and young people. The scheme has been called “a potential blueprint for transforming outcomes in left behind communities” and is now being rolled out to other Liverpool City Region communities.
The foundation also backed the expansion of Maggie’s Centres by commissioning, building and funding a new cancer support centre in Wirral. It is also building a centre in North Wales and is committed to building another in Liverpool.
In 2022, the foundation committed £50m to the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge, which brings together Diabetes Ƶ and Breakthrough T1D Ƶ to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
Sally Morgan, Steve Morgan Foundation trustee, said: “We are incredibly proud to continue supporting the pioneering work of the T1D Grand Challenge – the Ƶ’s first Type 1 Diabetes Virtual Research Institute. As with all our other partnerships, this is a cause that is close to our hearts. It is fantastic to see research projects funded by the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge up and running across the Ƶ and beyond, each taking us closer to new treatments and cures for type 1 diabetes.”
