08 Jul 2020

TRISTAN’S RIC LEWIS LAUNCHES £1M CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT INEQUALITY “EACH DAY EVERY DAY” IN WAKE OF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS

Source: Black Heart Foundation Press Release

08 July, 2020: The Black Heart Foundation, the charity established in 2000 by Ric Lewis, Founder of Tristan Capital Partners, has launched a crowdfunding campaign (www.justgiving.com/campaign/EachDayEveryDay) to double the number of young people from under-resourced and under-represented communities it has helped to date through its Black Heart Scholarship Programme from 100 to 200 scholars.

The “Each Day. Every Day.” crowdfunding campaign aims to raise £500,000 from friends, supporters and the general public, which will be matched, pound for pound, by the Board of The Black Heart Foundation, which includes former England Rugby Captain Matt Dawson and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan among its Trustees. The campaign has been launched now to accelerate the work The Black Heart Foundation has been doing for the past 20 years, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

At launch, over £95,000 had already been raised towards the target from the Senior Partners of Tristan Capital Partners, the real estate investment management firm Ric founded in 2009, and from longstanding friends and supporters of The Foundation. The Black Heart Foundation has a 100% pass-through rate policy, with all of its overhead expenses covered by its Board so that every single pound donated is invested in its Scholars.

Ric Lewis, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Black Heart Foundation, said: “Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked by a lot of people what they can do to help tackle the issues raised by Black Lives Matter and by COVID-19, which has had a disproportionate effect on BAME communities. After a lot of reflection and discussion with the Board of Trustees, we have decided to open up the work the Foundation has been quietly and industriously doing each day, every day for the past two decades to the general public, supercharging our new efforts so that we can have an even greater impact on young lives.

“Today, we are issuing an open invitation to everyone to give whatever they can afford, little or large, to make the change we want in our world. Your money will go directly to help change the lives of young, talented, ambitious people in the UK and we will match every single penny that is raised along the way.”

The Black Heart Scholars Programme was created in 2013 and provides gap-funding for young people who would otherwise not be able to achieve their ambitions or potential through Further or Higher Education. To date, The Foundation has provided Scholarships to 100 young people, 85% of whom are BAME, and who have studied at 57 academic institutions in the UK, from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Bristol and Loughborough through to the commercial flight school at Aer Lingus and The Urdang Academy of performing arts in London.

In June 2020, the Black Heart Foundation reached a huge milestone, awarding its 100th Scholarship to Amina Abonde-Adigun, who is studying for an MSc in Public Health at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a course she had been trying to find a way to finance for four years. 100th Black Heart Scholar Amina Abonde-Adigun said: “Being a Black Heart scholar has provided me with an enormous boost. It has given me funding but also confidence and mentoring. They believed in me and that invaluable support has allowed me to focus fully on my studies. I am now working towards a career as a global leader in healthcare management.”

To learn more about the Each Day. Every Day. crowdfunding campaign, or to donate visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/EachDayEveryDay, or text BLACKHEART5 to 70085 to donate £5 or BLACKHEART10 to 70085 to donate £10.

ENDS

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