The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation

Terry Bramall co-founded Keepmoat, the Doncaster-based affordable-housing builder and regeneration specialist, eventually serving as its chairman. The company grew into one of the UK's largest private housebuilders before being sold in stages, first to Sun Capital Partners in 2007 and ultimately to Engie in 2017. Liz Bramall, also a CBE recipient, has been a co-trustee of the foundation since its launch in 2008.

The foundation's grant-making follows four stated pillars: advancing the Christian faith, promoting urban and rural regeneration in deprived areas, and supporting education, health, and the arts. In practice, its giving is heavily concentrated in Yorkshire, with grants directed toward church restoration, local youth services, community arts organisations, and area-based regeneration projects. The foundation does not maintain a large national grant programme.

The foundation directly owns a portfolio of commercial and mixed-use properties across Yorkshire, including the Harrogate Retail and Office Complex and the Bingley 5Rise development. Grant budgets are partially funded by rental income from these foundation-owned buildings, creating a self-sustaining model that does not rely on an external OCIO. The property portfolio is managed alongside the family's broader commercial real estate interests outside the foundation.

The family's non-philanthropic assets include co-ownership of Doncaster Rovers Football Club alongside the estate of the late Dick Watson and business associate David Blunt, a 164-foot luxury yacht, and a substantial classic car collection. Terry Bramall is a regular exhibitor at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. These assets are held separately from the foundation's endowment and are not part of its charitable grant-making capacity.

The trustee board consists of founders Terry and Liz Bramall, their daughters Rebecca Bletcher and Suzannah Allard, and Rachel Tunnicliffe, a partner at Harrogate law firm Raworths LLP. Tunnicliffe is the sole trustee not directly related to the founding family, providing external legal oversight while the family retains full control over grant-making and investment decisions.

The foundation's public communications indicate a preference for supporting known organisations within its Yorkshire focus area, and it does not widely advertise an open application process. Prospective applicants are typically expected to demonstrate alignment with its Christian ethos and geographic remit, though the foundation's small team and family-led governance mean grant-making capacity is inherently limited.

Rather than holding a diversified portfolio of securities managed by external advisors, the foundation's endowment is heavily weighted toward directly owned Yorkshire real estate. This property portfolio generates rental income that funds operations and grants, reducing the need to sell assets for cash. The model mirrors the family's Keepmoat roots in property and regeneration, and it keeps investment control entirely in-house.