Menu

Peter Sowerby Foundation

The Peter Sowerby Foundation was established in 2011 to direct the personal wealth of Dr Peter Sowerby to organisations that meet the philanthropic objectives established by Peter and his wife, Ann, during their lifetimes. The Foundation awards grants in the areas of Healthcare Innovation, Education & Learning and Community & Environment.

Our grants

Peter Sowerby Foundation 
has three areas 
of interest to 
award grants:

Discover more

Healthcare innovation

Community and environment

Learning and education

Our grants process

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications for grants. Instead, it actively solicits applications from charities, community groups and registered healthcare providers for projects which meet the trustees’ priorities. 

However, from time to time the Trustees issue Open Calls for expressions of interest in the Foundation’s Healthcare Breakthrough Fund. The opportunity to respond to the Open Call is announced on the Foundation’s website, and while there is no fixed timing for these, it is anticipated that they will be made at least on an annual basis. If you would like to be notified of the next Open Call for the Health Breakthrough Fund, please register your contact details below. 

 

For further details of the grants we have made, please see our grants section.

Find out more
In 2019 the Peter Sowerby Foundation made a grant of £338,300; the largest grant in the history of Target Ovarian Cancer. This transformational funding is to address regional variation in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. This project will help to ensure that all women receive the earliest possible diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and the best possible chance of survival, wherever they live.
Target Ovarian Cancer

About

The Peter Sowerby Foundation was set up with a generous endowment by Dr Sowerby, to fulfil his philanthropic vision and charitable priorities. 

Peter’s vision, creativity and innovation in creating the software behind EMIS – now the largest supplier of clinical software to GPs in the UK – is echoed in the grants the Foundation supports. The Trustees look for projects which are innovative, use technology effectively, and are often those that may not meet the criteria for mainstream funders.

Read more

Covid response

Like many other grant giving Foundations, the Peter Sowerby Foundation responded rapidly to the Covid crisis in March 2020. The trustees designated up to £1m of funds to respond to the urgent needs of healthcare workers, individuals who found themselves in need due to the crisis - especially the most vulnerable in society. 

Read more

Healthcare innovation

University of Exeter BCG Trial

As part of a global trial entitled “BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of Covid-19 in healthcare workers (BRACE)”, the University of Exeter is running a UK trial that will recruit 1,000 care workers and community health practitioners.

Read more

At present over 100,000 people in the UK live with MS, part of a worldwide community of over 2.3 million people who live with this relentless, painful and disabling condition. Despite these numbers, MS is too often overlooked by governments. That is why support from funders like the Peter Sowerby Foundation is crucial if effective treatments are to be found. The Foundation is currently funding ground-breaking preliminary research. This research has resulted in greater insight into MS, enabling further investigations into new transformative treatments, and potentially benefiting the lives of thousands of people diagnosed with MS in the near future.
MS Society