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The Foundation’s Aims and Ethos

The Peter Sowerby Foundation was set up thanks to a generous endowment by Dr Sowerby, to fulfil his philanthropic vision and charitable priorities. 

Peter’s vision, creativity and innovation led him to create the software behind EMIS – now the largest supplier of clinical software to GPs in the UK. These qualities are echoed in our grants. We look for projects that are innovative, effective and are often those that don’t meet the criteria for mainstream funders.

Whilst not exclusively, we predominantly seek projects which are:

  • Likely to be at an early - if not preliminary - stage of development
  • Highly innovative
  • Potentially high-risk
  • Complex and/or technical
  • Run by high calibre professionals with compelling track records in this or related fields
  • Well supervised and resourced projects (potentially through additional input by the Foundation)
  • High impact and transformative in nature.

In terms of impact, we seek this at three distinct levels:

  • Individuals – the impact of the project/programme on individual beneficiaries supported by the organisation.
  • Community – the impact of the project/programme on a defined community of people/organisations. It is up to the applicant to define their community.
  • Sector – the impact of the project/programme of the sector in which applicants work. Trustees want to understand the wider implications of projects within their defined sector and how organisations might share their learnings more widely.

We also have a significant focus on monitoring and evaluation – in proof of concept – and in potential scalability of ideas beyond the existing scope of any grant. Projects with potential to create a wider impact in their sector are likely to be prioritised.