Sarah’s Trust: Fighting Poverty, Hunger & Environmental Crisis
- Sarah’s Trust, a UK-based charitable foundation established in 2020 by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, will be closing “for the foreseeable future.” The announcement, made on February 2,...
- The charity was founded with the aim of “introducing philanthropists to causes that need funding and support to create impactful and sustainable change,” as stated on its website...
- Since its launch, Sarah’s Trust has engaged in a variety of charitable activities.
Sarah’s Trust to Close “For Foreseeable Future” After Epstein File Revelations
Sarah’s Trust, a UK-based charitable foundation established in 2020 by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, will be closing “for the foreseeable future.” The announcement, made on , follows recent revelations stemming from files related to Jeffrey Epstein, according to Sky News.
The charity was founded with the aim of “introducing philanthropists to causes that need funding and support to create impactful and sustainable change,” as stated on its website and in records with the Charity Commission. Sarah’s Trust focused on identifying “action centred and evidence based NGOs,” developing programs, and awarding grants to support impactful “social enterprise” innovations.
Since its launch, Sarah’s Trust has engaged in a variety of charitable activities. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization provided aid to frontline workers, delivering over 150,000 items including food, masks, scrubs, and toiletries to NHS staff, care homes, and hospices. The charity also collaborated with organizations like Under One Sky and NOAH Enterprise to provide sleeping bags to homeless people in the UK and sent essential supplies to Ghana.
In , Ferguson traveled to Poland in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, working with Sarah’s Trust to organize aid for Ukrainian refugees. The charity secured funding to provide £14,000-worth of computers for refugees in Poland and established a ‘Play in a Box’ tent in Upper Silesia offering activities for children.
More recently, in , Sarah’s Trust supported St Matthew’s Church in Burnley, providing community support through gift bags, funding for food projects, and sponsoring a pantomime outing for local families.
Sarah Ferguson, the founder of Sarah’s Trust, has long been committed to children’s and wellness causes, with a particular focus on education. She has traveled extensively to observe projects firsthand and has personally raised significant donations for causes aligned with her philanthropic goals. According to Ferguson, she established the Trust to address the “humanitarian and environmental crisis, the hunger crisis and issues perpetuating cycles of extreme poverty.”
As of today, , Sarah’s Trust has reportedly supported over 40 organizations and aided more than 1.4 million children across 25 countries. The charity’s work encompassed healthcare, education, support for children, and disaster/poverty relief. It provided project funding, core costs, salaries, and unrestricted funding for international disaster and poverty relief efforts.
The organization’s stated purpose is to be “a voice and ambassador to the world’s forgotten women, children, families and communities around the world.” Sarah Ferguson expressed her desire to consolidate her charitable causes under the umbrella of Sarah’s Trust, stating, “I am incredibly excited to be bringing all of my charitable causes under one roof with Sarah’s Trust. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time.”
According to Sarah Ferguson, the impetus for establishing the Trust was strengthened by becoming a grandmother, leading to a heightened awareness of the responsibility to improve the world for future generations. She stated, “Since becoming a grandmother, I’ve become acutely aware of my responsibility, and that of my generation, to do everything I can to improve the state of the world that we are leaving for our grandchildren.”