The Denise Coates Foundation, formerly known as the bet365 Foundation, aims to promote charitable purposes anywhere in the world for the public benefit, particularly through the provision (or assistance in the provision) of facilities for the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation. Much of the Foundation’s funding comes from the bet365 Group Limited, a leading British online gambling company based in the United Kingdom, which is under the control of Denise Coates CBE.
The Foundation tends to identify charities that it wishes to support, hence a letter of introduction is advised. Selected charities are invited to present proposals to the Foundation's trustees detailing how a grant would be used and the benefits that it would deliver. The trustees assess how the proposal aligns to the Foundation's objectives in order to determine whether or not to award a grant.
During the year ended 28 March 2021, the Foundation committed 17 grants totalling £6,200,000 to just 12 institutions in support of local, national and international charitable causes (2020: 23 grants to 19 institutions totalling £9,000,000). All grants were made to UK registered charities working in the UK and/or overseas. Grants are normally quite significant. In 2020, the average grant award was for £365,000, while in 2019 the average grant was £391,000.
Details of all grants awarded during the year are provided on pages 4-5 of the Foundation’s Annual Report. Grant recipients are also summarised on page 22.
Grant awarded made during the year were categorised as follows:
o Health and Welfare: £2,274,000 (2020: £2,213,000).
o Community Development: £589,000 (2020: £2,614,000).
o Medical Research and Development: £1,332,000 (2020: £1,649,000).
o Education and Training: £1,831,000 (2020: £2,101,000).
o Arts and Culture: £0 (2020: £423,000).
o Disaster recovery: £150,000 (2020: £0).
The Foundation has stated that it will continue to review applications for funding and provide donations and grants that meet its charitable objectives. Its ability to continue its grant-making activities are expected to remain unaffected for the foreseeable future.
Please note that the Foundation does not maintain a website. Further information is, however, available on the Charity Commission website.
Because the Foundation tends to proactively identify causes to support, a letter of introduction may be the best way to make an approach in the first instance.
Contact details for the Foundation, as listed in its Charity Commission entry, are:
John Coates
Chair
The Denise Coates Foundation
bet365 House
Media Way
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 5SZ
Tel: 0845 6000 365
(The Foundation does not advertise an email address.)
