A family run trust has halted plans to wind down its grant making following an £11m funding boost from a funder.

The trust called Gower Street is run by couple Sophie and Nick Marple and funded from money from Nick’s 30-year career in the sports gambling industry.

It had originally planned to hand out grants until 2028 through a £8m injection from the couple, and a “small amount of funds remaining” from this pot will continue to be handed out.

But it will now develop a new funding programme ‘to support building a more socially just, resilient and democratic future in the UK’ following the cash injection from the Quadrature Charitable Foundation (QCF).

The new pot from the independent charitable foundation will be spent between 2026 and 2031.

Gower Street was originally called the Marple Charitable Trust and was founded by the philanthropic couple to support girls’ education in Africa and North London. Since 2018 it has been focused on tackling climate change in Ghana and the UK.

“This new phase of work reflects a broadening of vision by both QCF and Gower Street to acknowledge that tackling climate change will be achieved most effectively when addressed holistically alongside work to promote social, economic and democratic justice,” said the Marples' trust.

“The replenishment has been funded in recognition of the value Gower Street adds to civil society in the UK through our model of responsive, relationship-based grant making.”

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