Trustees Report

Achievements and Performance

For the year ended 30 September 2025

The year in context
This year has been quite similar to the previous few years in that there was a lot of uncertainty. A new Government in the UK meant changes for us but it was unexpected how much the American government would impact our global partners.

We continued to see challenges created by the Cost of Living Crisis but the Government brought stability which saw a decline in reliance on the Staff Hardship Fund compared to previous years. This did, however, result in the direct increase of Community Grants and Match-Funding Grants, as people returned to fundraising and supporting causes in their local communities.

Grant-makers across the sector saw an increase in applications due to organisations like USAID closing operations and others making significant cuts. While we did not see direct cuts to our partners, local partners they were collaborating with did suffer from these changes. This led to widespread uncertainty and closure of essential services that had been serving populations for years in some of the most neglected parts of South Asian and Africa.

Overall, we are pleased with the performance of our partners and grant streams during an uncertain time. The Foundation saw this as an opportunity to assess its position and we are delighted with the steps we have taken in addressing areas that we are interested in.

Our Objectives for this year

Trustees agreed on a set of key objectives for this reporting year, the most notable of which were as follows:

  • Implementation of our updated Theory of Change and Impact Assessment Framework, in line with the new Strategic Plan;
  • To begin transitioning to a portfolio of Partnership Grants that consists of 3-4 Flagship Partnerships and 10- 15 other partnerships, by:
    – identifying another Flagship Partnership by the end of the financial year.
  • ensure that the majority of Partnership Grants Fund supports innovative projects and new ideas in line with its impact areas, creating unique new collaborative partnerships;
  • ensure partnership programmes delivered locally are sharing learnings with a wider network to maximise reach;
  • ensure that partnerships focussing on employability have a dedicated focus on addressing the UK social care vacancy challenges, supporting and retaining 60 individuals into social care roles (compared to 53 in FY23/24);
  • ensure that the three small grants streams operate at full capacity (ie using the full budget allocation) and
    deliver maximum impact in line with their objectives, with the following target number of supported applications
    – Staff Hardship Grant Fund – 450 applications (FY23/24 forecast – 430 applications);
    – Community Grant Fund – 100 applications (FY23/24 forecast – 98 applications);
    – Match Fund – 75 applications (FY23/24 forecast – 75 applications), of which at least 10 ‘Match it’ supported applications;
  • ensure all research programmes have a strong basis in practicality and action which is tested regularly by CareTech Ltd and the wider sector for viability;
  • grow the Pakistan Special Education Initiative (SEN-i) and commence training of Cohort 2 schools;
  • seek out co-funding opportunities with other grant-making bodies by which to increase the Foundation’s scale and reach, with the aim of securing at least two such co-funding opportunities; and,
  • ensure rigorous reporting and effective partnerships are in place for all Partnership Grants, with wellevidenced
    impact evaluation plans and reports, in line with updated Impact Assessment Framework.

Main achievements

In reviewing the key objectives established in the first year of the Foundation’s second Strategic Plan that concluded this reporting year, trustees are proud to be able to reflect strong progress. In the Foundation’s first Strategic plan, trustees agreed to assess the success of the Foundation against its ability to deliver the following three overarching strategic aims:

The Foundation will be a well-structured, ambitious and clear-sighted organisation, delivering meaningful impact to communities in the UK and overseas.

The Foundation has supported programmes across its grant portfolio that have directly supported some 2.09M beneficiaries over its first five years. Our Impact Reports set out a range of significant achievements of programmes that have proved ‘game changer’ investments, from transforming mental health provision in Pakistan, to creating new employment pathways in to social care, to stimulating new technologies and interventions for those living in care.

The staff of CareTech Ltd and its service users will feel proud of and be strongly engaged in the Foundation.

The Foundation is now well understood by CareTech Ltd staff, with awareness figures rising year-on-year in the company’s staff survey, reaching an incredible 79% in 2023/24. The growth in take-up by staff of grant fund nominations opportunities to support local projects and their own fundraising efforts is gratifying. The development and increase in the company’s secondment programme to the Foundation has been particularly welcome.

The Foundation will be delivering a unique contribution to the charitable marketplace, consistent with CareTech Ltd’s values and approach.

The Foundation continues to be recognised as being the leading grant-maker in the social care arena, playing a unique role in its focus on the sector. The numerous award nominations – and wins! – since 2017 is a welcome recommendation of the Foundation’s contribution.