The Panathlon Foundation is delighted to have the long-term support of the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation.
St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation is the grant-making charitable arm of the St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group. The Foundation has raised and distributed in excess of £100 million to good causes since its establishment in 1992.
The main theme of the Foundation’s work is to support children and young people (aged up to 25), especially:
– Young people with physical or mental health difficulties or life threatening or degenerative conditions, and
– Young people who are socially or economically disadvantaged
Panathlon have received core funding from the Foundation for many years and has used that support to expand right across the country. Panathlon has grown from just a few dozen schools involved when we received our first support in 2008 to expand Panathlon in to Kent for the first time, right through to our new agreement to take us through to 2025. SJP have invested well over £1m during this time and been responsible for making Panathlon a national charity.
In December 2020, St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation won the ‘Best Partnership with a National Children’s Charity’ prize at The Better Society Awards for their work with Panathlon.
The Better Society Network’s Better Society Awards celebrate the efforts that commercial organisations make to create a better society. They reward commercial companies who are helping create a better, more equal, ethical and sustainable world for all.
The huge structural growth of Panathlon, not only geographically, but in the depth of programmes it offers (such as Primary Panathlon, X-tend, Secondary Panathlon and the stand-alone competitions such as swimming, ten-pin bowling, football, boccia etc) has all been down to the long-term core support from SJP Charitable Foundation.
Catherine Ind, Head of the SJP Charitable Foundation visited the London Final at the Copper Box Arena in the Olympic Park in the summer of 2019.
There, she said: “That our own SJP community can take part and get involved in these events is superb. It then becomes very real and is a huge motivating factor for our own community to raise more money and continue to help them.
“There is that engagement in a wider sense so it’s not just about handing over a grant. That’s why we like Panathlon because it’s a multi-level partnership.”
SJP staff have got involved in Panathlon competitions around the country, including – York, Bristol, Gloucester and London.
Catherine went on to say, “Historically the Foundation has wanted to help smaller charities make a transformational difference. Over the years we’ve seen Panathlon go from strength to strength and make precisely that difference.”
“The many personal stories we’ve heard during that time from Panathlon competitors about the impact it’s made on their lives are fantastic,” said Catherine.
SJP employee Mark Longbottom attended the South Cotswolds Primary Panathlon, where 94 children with special needs from nine Gloucestershire primary schools competed at Cirencester Kingshill School.
After spending the day volunteering as a sports leader at the event, he said: “Panathlon have children who are taking part and achieving in sport for the very first time. That’s quite infectious and exciting.
“They might not get into sports teams or they just get pushed to the back of the line when it comes to taking part in something, but they all got a chance today to achieve something within the activity and that was brilliant.”
Liz Johnson, Panathlon’s Paralympic Ambassador said: “It’s fantastic that the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation has continued to invest in Panathlon, which will create many thousands more sporting opportunities in the years ahead for young people with disabilities and special educational needs. Thank you for supporting Panathlon”
Visit St. James’s Place Foundation website
