A charity named ‘The Triangle Trust’ was first proposed by Sir Henry Jephcott, the then Chairman of Glaxo, before the Second World War
1949 – Trust deeds were finally approved and the Triangle Trust 1949 Fund formally became operational. Initially the Trustees had to be people linked to Glaxo or its subsidiaries, and its aims were to provide hardship and education awards for Glaxo employees, retirees and/or dependents.
Over the next 60 years the Trust’s aims and rules had to change because of social change and the introduction of the welfare state, particularly with the provision of education and health following the war years.
1968 – Hardship gifts were introduced for pharmaceutical pensioners/dependents or employees. However, with the availability of state benefits it became considerably more difficult for the Trust to find worthy causes associated with the pharmaceutical industry that met the original aims.
Consequently, over the years the Trust has moved away from the Glaxo employee focus. Trustees are now recruited from a wide field of experience and the Trust’s education and poverty remit has been extended to include the ‘community at large’.
1990’s – The Trust moved away from individual hardship and education funding and began supporting charities with grants. The purpose of the grants was to enable funded charities to provide support on behalf of the Trust through hardship or education grants or through the provision of services.
2012 – Trustees made the decision to become more focused and only fund specialist organisations working with unpaid carers or supporting the rehabilitation of ex-offenders.
2013 – A grants programme was launched offering unrestricted funding to organisations working in these areas.
2016 – A new grants programme was launched offering Development Grants to specialist carer and criminal justice organisations. There grants were intended to support organisations to become more sustainable and resilient in the long term.
2020 – Trustees agreed to focus funding priorities in 2021 on supporting young carers and young people caught in the criminal justice system.
2021 – New strategy launched for 2021 and 2023. Funding focused on supporting young carers and young adult carers to achieve improved education outcomes and supporting young people caught in the criminal justice system to reduce re-offending rates.
2023 – New five-year strategy launched focusing on transforming the lives of disadvantaged young people at risk of having their futures disrupted by the criminal justice system. Funding will focus on supporting work that reduces reoffending rates for young people and helps high-risk young people on the edge of the criminal justice system avoid first offences and move on positively with their lives.