Marking 35 years, side by side
09 November 2020
On December 13th, we will celebrate our 35th anniversary. In 35 years we’ve changed significantly - in name, size, scope, and impact - but our vision remains the same; to support small and local charities across England and Wales, as they help people overcome complex social issues. Thirty-five years, side by side.
Whilst our story began in 1985, the ethos we abide by can be traced back to 1810, when the Revd Dr Henry Duncan, a minister in Dumfriesshire, established a parish bank to encourage poor parishioners to save.
These small local banks became known as Trustee Savings Banks, or TSBs. In time they were amalgamated into one each for Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, and the Channel Islands.
As part of their flotation as publicly traded companies, four foundations were established, to enshrine the TSBs’ guiding principal to contribute to ‘the life of the community by assisting local needs.’
To date the matched giving scheme has raised almost £38million thanks to the efforts of over 72,000 colleagues from Lloyds Banking Group.
In 1995, TSB Group merged with Lloyds Bank, positioning the Foundation as one of the largest corporate grantmaking foundations in the UK. The next eighteen years would see huge growth in the Foundation’s reach and impact.
In 2013, Lloyds TSB once again became two banks and we start our new chapter as Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales. Since then, we have been proud partners with Lloyds Bank, inspired by their dedication to ‘Helping Britain Prosper’.
As we know, needs change. Over the past thirty-five years we’ve sought to respond to the changing needs in our communities and the charities which serve them. Much of this on-the-ground listening is thanks to our 11 Regional Managers, who for decades have been building personal, local relationships in communities across England and Wales.
As a funder, we reached our first milestone in 1987 - £1million in grants given in a single year. That same year, alongside our three sister foundations, we gave £65,000 to help establish a new helpline for children in distress – Childline (look out for a very special conversation with Dame Esther Rantzen in the coming weeks).
In 1992 we set up our Matched Giving scheme, to encourage and reward the local fundraising and volunteering activities of banking staff. To date the matched giving scheme has raised almost £38million thanks to the efforts of over 72,000 colleagues from Lloyds Banking Group.
The kind support of TSB, then Lloyds TSB and finally Lloyds Banking Group, is the means by which we’ve been able to support the organisations we have. The merger of TSB and Lloyds Bank in 1995 became a powerful catalyst for growth. The following year we reached a new funding milestone of £5million in grants given. Soon after came our largest single grant, supporting research into recruiting and training older volunteers. Over the next decade we took increasingly ambitious steps, pioneering open trustee recruitment, offering core costs funding and identifying the need for larger, long-term grants.
We’re proud to be more than simply a funder, but a valued partner to small and local charities. This is in no small part due to the ‘three pillars’ of our support – to fund, to develop, and to influence.
In 2004 we hired our first Head of Research which has since grown into a robust research team authoring and supporting dozens of reports into the impact, challenges and value of small and local charities. In 2018 we unveiled our dedicated Development team whose role is to transform and strengthen services, and all those who deliver them.
Whilst researching our history as part of these celebrations, we have had the honour of speaking with leading sector figures, grassroots organisations that have gone on to become household names, team members past and present, and our fellow foundations across the UK. They happily shared their stories, and how our support and friendship impacted their work. We hope that over the coming weeks you’ll enjoy hearing from them, and should you have a memory of our work together, please share it with us using the hashtag #LBF35.
