Charitable Activities
In 2014 Graphite Capital established a £1 million charitable fund in association with the children and youth charity, Buttle UK. The charity was established by Frank Buttle in 1953 to help children and young people across the UK whose safety, health or development are at serious risk. Buttle makes small grants, based on individual need, to provide practical solutions that give children and young people a fighting chance in life. A grant can range from buying a bed or clothes for a job interview, to funding a college course or training opportunity.
Buttle supported over 35,000 children and young people last year from a variety of circumstances, ranging from children coming from homes experiencing domestic violence to young people coming out of prison and needing help to start again.
One of the largest, most vulnerable groups are estranged young adults from the ages of 16-20 who do not have the support of parents or carers and are often not the main focus of charitable activity.
The Graphite Capital Bursary Fund has focused specifically on helping this group, providing over £0.5 million of grants to over 600 estranged young people to help them back into employment, education or training while establishing their new home. The Bursary Fund has attracted further donations from Graphite fundraising activities and also grants from external charitable trusts. As a result, the Bursary Fund still has £0.7m to spend on supporting estranged young people in the years to come.