About John Lyon’s Charity

John Lyon’s Charity is committed to transforming the lives of children and young people up to the age of 25 by giving grants to charities and schools across nine boroughs in North and West London: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Kensington & Chelsea, and the Cities of London and Westminster.

Rooted in the vision of our founder, John Lyon, the Charity has awarded over £208 million in grants since 1991 to organisations dedicated to improving the life chances of children and young people by creating opportunities to learn, grow and develop through education.

Each year, we distribute approximately £12 million to registered charities and organisations with automatic charitable status, focusing on those that support young people up to age 25, and up to age 30 for those with special educational needs and disabilities.

Embracing a broad vision of education, we fund a diverse range of projects that offer enriching experiences across our Beneficial Area, structured within four key Programme Areas:

• Formal Education: This area focuses on improving academic achievement within schools, providing resources and programs that help raise aspirations and enhance learning outcomes for all students.
• Informal Education: We support a wide range of community-based activities, such as arts, sports, and youth programs, that offer young people valuable learning experiences outside of the traditional classroom environment.
• Access to Education: This area is dedicated to breaking down barriers that prevent children from fully participating in education, ensuring they have the support and resources needed to thrive academically.
• Capacity Building: We work to strengthen organisations that serve young people, helping them develop the resilience and capacity needed to sustain their efforts and adapt to future challenges.

At John Lyon’s Charity, we believe in promoting and supporting collaboration and partnerships that can have a sustainable impact on the aspirations of children and young people, and will not shy away from taking informed risks to support projects and organisations that pioneer new initiatives and ideas. As an independent funder, we will continue to share the knowledge from our work and seek to influence public policy for the benefit of the voluntary sector to ensure it is valued.

For more information about our work, please visit our website at www.jlc.london.