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Our Mission

We are funders, working to transform lives and systems for those with traumatic pasts, and uncertain futures.

Throughout our work we are committed to the pursuit of social justice and equality of opportunity.

Our mission is underpinned by our charitable objects, which are set out in full in our Articles of Association, and delineate the sectors in which we work. They are drafted widely to include areas such as, but not limited to, human rights, conflict prevention and resolution, the promotion of religious or racial harmony, equality and diversity, the advancement of education and access to education, the relief of those in need, criminal justice and mental health.

KMSF is a relatively small charity; meaning that we must focus our efforts carefully, and have sound strategic oversight, in order to maximise the impact we are able to make.

Our founder Tamsin has direct experience of the criminal justice system – and so, when KMSF was established, this was where we decided to start, allocating our first grant to Hampton Trust, in order to support the delivery of Project Gateway, a pilot initiative, offering alternative interventions to young adults (18-24 yrs) otherwise at risk of prosecution. We agreed from the outset that we would offer multi-year grants wherever possible, to give recipients a level of security in their planning – and in fact, we are still proud funders of Hampton Trust today.

In its first two years, KMSF funded a total of five charities and two research projects. In 2018, the Trustees decided on a policy of funding fewer organisations in larger amounts, in order to build deeper relationships and have greater impact; this remains our approach. In 2022, having previously concentrated mainly on charities developing early intervention programmes for disadvantaged and marginalised young people, we actively sought new funding partners working in the asylum and refugee sector, where we could see an increasingly hostile policy environment leading to greater and more acute need.

By 2023, our experience of meeting with and hearing from a wide range of charities across various sectors, and seeing time and time again just how interconnected the root causes of inequality are, enabled us to clarify further the scope of our mission: we are funders, working to transform lives and systems for those with traumatic pasts, and uncertain futures.

Our aim is for KMSF to continue to evolve in response to a shifting socio-economic landscape, and help to shape that shift in a positive way. We want to model philanthropy that empowers its beneficiaries and amplifies their voices above our own. Our vision is for a society where compassion, empathy and fairness are integral to its fabric and functioning, where the importance of acknowledging and addressing trauma in all its forms is fully understood, and where no one is deprived of opportunity due to inequality.