The Triodos Foundation was formed and registered as a UK Charity shortly after Triodos Bank opened its UK office in 1995. The existence of the foundation stems from the concept of the Threefold Nature of Money and the view that in each country the business unit of the Bank should be able to work with Gift Money as part of its activities.
Originally the Foundation was funded by interest donations from some customers of Triodos Bank who wished to support the Foundation’s work, supplemented by a few individual gifts and small legacies.
More recently, Triodos Bank has allowed the Foundation to use an area of their offices in Bristol as a meeting and workshop space which the Foundation rents out to local charities and NGOs at subsidised rates. This new activity has once again provided the Foundation with an income.
With roughly 90% of the Foundation’s income now coming from other Bristol based organisations, the Foundation has taken the decision to focus its grant making in support of charities local to the Bristol area and who share our vision.
Triodos Bank supports the Foundation by paying for all its staffing, operating costs and overheads in addition to providing the meeting space.
The Bank also operates a Changemakers Programme in partnership with selected local charities. This Programme entitles every Triodos employee to a period of paid volunteering time during which they work on projects agreed between the Bank, the Foundation and the local partner. The Foundation supports this work with grants to cover the non-labour costs of each project undertaken.
