Photo from the archives of Oxfam

Andrews Charitable Trust (ACT) is an innovative partnership between business and philanthropy that traces its origins to our founder - Cecil Jackson-Cole.

Born in 1901 'CJC' had by the middle years of the century developed a network of companies whose profits he put towards fulfilling his deeply felt vocation to relieve human suffering around the world.  'CJC' wanted to promote a working relationship between business and charities and to aid the latter in their development and sustainability with use of business sector techniques and approaches.

This business activity was centred around the estate agency firm of Andrews & Partners, set up in 1946 and included, just as it does today, senior staff becoming involved with and supportive of a range of charities in receipt of support.   Those charities they funded and supported were promoted to grow dramatically from fledgling organisations to independent, powerful agents of social transformation.

Among Jackson-Cole's earliest initiatives was helping turn the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief into Oxfam - which grew rapidly with his professional and innovative guidance. CJC did this by seconding one of his business managers to be the founding Secretary General of Oxfam and meeting the costs of the early, developing organisation. Numerous other examples exist of CJC creating the model of support which ACT has followed for more than forty years. It is the mixture of financial and management support for new and growing organisations (what is now referred to as 'highly engaged grant making') which has delivered such success.

By the 1950's Andrews had formed Voluntary & Christian Service (VCS), a charitable trust funded, like Andrews Charitable Trust (from its inception in 1965 as the Phyllis Trust) today, from the estate agency, letting and management and land/property development profits.  In quick succession VCS and Andrews Charitable Trust spawned charities that are amongst the UK's most dynamic and important. Oxfam's growth was accelerated, Help the Aged and ActionAid were created.

Cecil Jackson-Cole died in 1979.  His unique spirit and vocation still inform the work of Andrews Charitable Trust today.

In addition to development agencies like ActionAid, Andrews Charitable Trust has supported charities such as Church Action with the Unemployed and the Persistent Virus Disease Research Foundation.  During the 1990's we established Opportunity Trust (later known as Opportunity International UK), which brings affordable and accessible micro-banking services to some of the world's poorest people.

This unique tradition of effective investment in new and growing charitable ventures continues today. Advantage Africa, Kainos Community, Excellent Development and Pictures to Share are some of the innovative ventures we support today.

Find out more about these initiatives.  more >