Burdens Charitable Foundation

The Burdens Charitable Foundation was created in 1977 by Mr and Mrs W T Burden who endowed it with shares in W T Burden Ltd – a private company and specialist supplier to the civil engineering and construction industry. The original trustees included W T “Bill” Burden and his son, Arthur Burden, both of whom shared ideas about putting something back into the community.

The principal aim of the Foundation has always been ‘the relief of human suffering, impairment and economic deprivation’. From its small beginnings over 30 years ago, it has developed into one of the more widely known grant makers based in the UK, having donated several million pounds to good causes over its lifetime. The individual grants themselves have tended to be modest by design and many of the projects involve intermediate technology undertaken by small, highly focused groups, whose fund raising and administration costs are kept to a minimum. The trustees believe that a modest financial contribution can make an enormous difference to a whole community, especially in less developed countries and this is increasingly where the trustees are most proactive.

The Foundation has been an investor in Castlefield since inception and counts its stake in the business as amongst its most successful financial decisions to date. It was originally attracted by the focus of the business on Third Sector clients and by its belief in the aspirations and commitment of our management team.