We were established in 1999 as Sefton Community Foundation, a charitable trust that helps donors support their community by channelling their money to community projects.
Initially operating from offices in Southport, we demonstrated our ability to effectively distribute grants to community groups in the borough and support areas of real need across a range of different themes.
In 2002, we moved to premises kindly provided free of charge by Alliance & Leicester. Our early success continued, resulting in us being asked to support grant-making across the other boroughs of Merseyside. In 2004 we became the Community Foundation for Merseyside.
2011 saw the Community Foundation move to new offices in the Stanley Buildings, which were generously donated by the Grosvenor Liverpool Fund. Further donated support for utilities and facilities, including IT and telephone systems, have been donated by Honeywell and Isrighthere.
This partnership and generous donation will support the Community Foundation to continue to maximise the impact of charitable funds in Merseyside in order to grow stronger communities.
Since that time we have gone from strength to strength, distributing an average of £1 million to communities throughout Merseyside every year.
Our donors can specify how they want their money to be distributed by setting criteria. Whether the donor is concerned with a specific geographical area or cause, we can give them the best advice on maximising the impact of their donation.
We have developed excellent grant-making and monitoring processes to ensure grant money meets real identified need and is fully accounted for.
Since we began, we have distributed over £44m, making us one of the largest Community Foundations in the country and the largest grant-maker in Merseyside.
