Sunnyside granted £250,000 by Julia Rausing Trust

The generous sum of £250,000 was awarded to Sunnyside Rural Trust in memory of late British philanthropist, Julia Rausing, and is to go towards funding improvements and developments across our social enterprise. 

“Sunnyside Rural Trust works to support young people and adults with learning disabilities to build a pathway towards wellness and independence.

Julia & Hans Rausing have been incredibly supportive and generous in helping us achieve our aims,” says Sunnyside CEO Keely Siddiqui-Charlick.

“Through the Julia Rausing Trust we have received funding for our horticultural social enterprise to build a strong foundation which now trains and employs over 177 people.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Trust for their continued belief in our work and will continue to work positively and creatively so people can find what they are good at rather than focus on their disability,” she continues. 

Funding will go towards transforming our Berkhamsted site into an accredited training centre and enabling our Wellbeing team to continue their social tracking courses for another two years. A significant amount will also go into developing our Orchard Nursery Project – a new facility on Tom & Sue Stuart Smith’s Serge Hill site that focuses on perennial propagation and growing.

Julia Rausing co-founded The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust in 2014. She was widely known for her unwavering commitment to philanthropy and her impactful contributions to a wide range of UK charitable causes. She was instrumental in building the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust into one of the largest philanthropic funds in the country, donating £400 million to causes across Health, Welfare, and the Arts, primarily within the UK. 

The Julia Rausing Trust, in memory of Julia herself, will be donating £100million to charities and organisations in its first year making it one of the largest charitable funds in the UK.