About us

Columbia Threadneedle Foundation

About Columbia Threadneedle Foundation

Through Columbia Threadneedle Foundation, we work with long-term charity partners to improve individual lives while also driving fundamental social change. We seek to address critical social issues – inclusion, opportunity, employment, empowerment, and mental health – using the power of art, sport and education & training as catalysts for change. Common threads we look for in our programmes and charity partners include the ability to build skills and confidence, challenge perspectives and broaden horizons.
We apply a responsible and rigorous process to the Foundation’s investments to ensure long-term sustainable partnerships are created. The Foundation aims to grow its investment in the community by working with partners that reflect Columbia Threadneedle’s principles of responsibility, integrity and excellence in the work they do.
And we aspire to be a transformative partner to the charities we work with through funding, specialist advice and support, pro bono assistance, employee volunteering and advocacy. The Foundation also supports the tremendous efforts of employees raising money for charity, via payroll giving and matched giving programmes.

Columbia Threadneedle Foundation is a UK registered Charity (no: 1158970). The Foundation receives its funding in the form of an annual financial contribution from Threadneedle Asset Management Limited.

Art

A vibrant arts sector brings a wide range of social, cultural and economic benefits. For more than 10 years, Columbia Threadneedle has been a major supporter of the arts in the UK through partnerships that span visual arts, art as therapy and art-based education programmes for diverse groups and communities from London and around the UK.

Education & Training

There is an acute need to improve financial education and financial inclusion in our communities. The Foundation supports a range of education programmes and initiatives, as well as programmes to provide skills, training and access to employment for vulnerable groups.

Sport

We recognise the unique power of sport to engage and motivate, build comradery and improve emotional and physical wellbeing, particularly among young people.

Volunteering

We look for opportunities where the talent and professional expertise of Columbia Threadneedle’s people can add support, through skills-based and other volunteering projects. Not only does volunteering enhance our wider support for charities, it gives our employees the chance to develop new skills and network within the business, and for teams to collaborate more effectively across departments.

Governance

The Foundation Board of Trustee Directors is made up of colleagues from across our EMEA business who work together to create sustainable partnerships with the charities we support.

Latest Columbia Threadneedle Foundation News

11 January 2022

Festive donation enables City Harvest to address food poverty

A £20,000 donation from Columbia Threadneedle Foundation enabled City Harvest to deliver 80,000 additional meals over the festive period.
4 November 2021

Supporting our charity partners through 2021

In 2021 our charity partners continued to deliver their vital work with our support, adapting services and focus to meet additional needs brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
31 October 2021

MASKED for children’s well-being

Columbia Threadneedle Foundation is pleased to support MASKED, a limited-edition portrait series shot to raise funds for UK children’s charity AT The Bus, which delivers a school-based programme of art as therapy to young people.
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