The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust

The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust

The Trust was established in 1961 by the late Helen M. Martin, a resident of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, who structured the entity as a general grantmaking vehicle for UK registered charities. Its mandate concentrates on the Midlands, with a pronounced historical focus on Coventry and the surrounding Warwickshire area. The Trust's most enduring institutional relationship is with the University of Warwick, to which it was a founding donor and continues to direct capital for capital projects and activities. The Trust's deployment is funded by a two-part asset base consisting of a quoted investment portfolio and a commercial investment property portfolio, both held within the United Kingdom. Grantmaking is generalist in nature, supporting activities ranging from educational initiatives at Warwick to broader charitable operations within its geographic catchment. The Trust does not operate as a venture or program-related investment shop; its model is traditional endowment grantmaking. The board reflects a close operational tie to Dafferns LLP, a Coventry-based accountancy and advisory firm and member of AGN International. Three named trustees — Paul Varney, Andrew Charles Jones, and Geoffrey Robert Cox — are present or former partners at Dafferns, with Cox serving as Joint Managing Partner. This accounting-firm nexus provides the Trust with its administrative and fiduciary backbone. No dedicated investment staff or family office infrastructure has been disclosed. The Trust's structural differentiator is its longevity and locational lock. Sixty-plus years after its founding deed, it remains a regionally bounded grantmaker governed by a professional-services board, not a multi-generational family office. Its legacy asset — the founding relationship with the University of Warwick — gives it an institutional anchor uncommon for a trust of its quiet profile, but it makes no public disclosures of AUM or annual grantmaking volume.