Support spanning communities, hospices and bear conservation home and away

The Brun Bear Foundation aims to create better futures locally, globally and in the animal kingdom

From a dementia garden in Lewisham to a bear-recovery frontier in Greece, the Brun Bear Foundation's latest grants reached further — and closer to home — than ever before.

At its December Board of Trustees meeting, the Brun Bear Foundation finalised 10 discretionary grants as part of its most wide-ranging giving programme to date. The awards spanned three areas of focus: community welfare in London, end-of-life and medical care across South East England, and wildlife conservation reaching into Greece and Switzerland.

The Foundation's approach has always been deliberately personal. Trustees as far as possible visit the organisations being supported, meet the people behind the applications, and ask a simple question: what does this grant actually make possible? This report answers that question, one organisation at a time.

Caring for People Close to Home

A wheel difference: Those with mobility challenges can enjoy activities that were previously out of reach

The Foundation's "charity begins at home" philosophy found expression in five distinct awards addressing rising dementia rates, child poverty and underfunded youth services.

By 2050, 1.6 million people in the UK are expected to be living with dementia and over half of people with dementia report feeling isolated since their diagnosis.

"Thanks to the generous support of Brun Bear Foundation, our dementia care group now has a new wheelchair to help participants get the most out of every session."

Sow & Grow addresses this head-on with a year-long programme at Sydenham Garden: gardening, cooking, photography, music and friendship across every season. Our grant funded a brand-new wheelchair, meaning that participants with mobility challenges can now reach the garden beds, the nature reserve and the activities that were previously out of reach.

"We are delighted to have received a donation of a brand new wheelchair, which will make a practical and meaningful difference to the people we support, said Sydenham Garden Interim Co-Director Lowell Black. "This equipment enables individuals with mobility challenges to access our gardens easier, taking part in our activities who may not have been able to do so before."

On song: Ania Wróblewska says our grant will inspire musical youth throughout The Borough

Lewisham Music's bursary programme keeps young musicians from low-income families playing but practice at home is rarely straightforward. The problem, as Lewisham Music Director of Community Programmes Ania Wróblewska explained, is that a full acoustic kit and a block of flats do not coexist easily. Our grant funded an electronic drumkit, giving young people the ability to practise solos and develop timing between lessons. The kit is expected to inspire many young players in the future.

At Tidemill Academy in Deptford, children that are often in kinship or foster care gather each week to cook. Something quietly transformative happens when a child completes a meal from scratch and feels genuinely proud. Research suggests that cooking in a supportive environment can have similar therapeutic effects to conventional play therapy. Kinship Kitchen provides this experience, every week, for free, and the families take home printed recipes to try together. Trustees observed a session at the school and saw the impact first-hand.

Don't bet against the next Master Chef emerging from Kinship Kitchen's after school programmes

"The Brun Bear Foundation's funding is helping us provide a hands-on, practical weekly cooking club where children build real-life skills, from preparing healthy meals to working safely and confidently in the kitchen," said Kinship Kitchen Founder and Director Anna-Lou Manca. "Our club offers children from challenging backgrounds an opportunity to experience nurturing one to one attention and positive regard, collaborate, make friends and increase their confidence."

In Downham, the Youth Café at St Mark's is a welcoming, entirely secular space where young people can gather, play and simply be themselves. Our gesture of goodwill was put to work immediately. The young people themselves voted on snacks, art supplies and sports equipment. Their thanks were passed on directly, and their enthusiasm was entirely infectious.

Supporting People Through the Hardest Times

Our medical grants are shaped by a conviction that no one should face illness or end of life without access to the information, equipment or compassionate care they deserve. This year we supported two hospices, a neonatal fund and a national epilepsy charity working to prevent deaths that research shows are largely avoidable.

Our grant funds their newly updated paediatric risk leaflets, developed in winter 2025 with leading UK epilepsy experts. Accessible and practical, these leaflets give children, parents and carers positive steps to improve safety

At least 21 people die each week in the UK from epilepsy-related causes, yet research shows that over 80% of these deaths are potentially preventable. Founded in 1995 by bereaved families, SUDEP Action works nationally to raise awareness of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. With support from our grant, the charity has developed updated paediatric risk leaflets alongside leading UK experts—accessible guides that give children, parents, and carers clear steps to improve safety. This initiative is expected to reach more than 500 young people and their families across the UK.

“Too often, people aren’t told about their risks, so they can’t take steps to reduce them,” said SUDEP Action CEO Sammy Ashby. “Sharing this information widely is one of the most powerful ways to prevent these tragic, unnecessary losses.”

St Christopher's Hospice is one of the UK's most respected centres of palliative care. Our grant funds two slide sheets, a simple but essential piece of equipment that allows nurses and carers to reposition patients gently, reducing the risk of injury to both patient and carer, and easing the discomfort that can come with limited mobility. Trustees were warmly invited to tour the hospice and its gardens, and look forward to developing this relationship in the years ahead. "We are planning to purchase 2 slide sheets with your generous donation. Slide sheets are essential for patient handling, easing transfers and repositioning when assisting people with limited mobility. By reducing friction and strain, slide sheets lower the risk of caregiver injuries. They also support micro and macro movements, helping mitigate pressure ulcers and shearing while enhancing patient comfort and well-being." said St Christopher's Hospice Trusts Fundraiser Samuel Hunt.

 Our grant funds two slide sheets that allows nurses and carers to reposition patients gently, reducing the risk of injury to both patient and carer. (Stock image courtesy St Christopher's Hospice)

Demelza provides specialist hospice care to children and young people with serious or life-limiting conditions across South East London — offering respite, emergency support and end-of-life care to children and the families who love them. Following a personal tour of their Eltham site, led by Katie Hook, Area Fundraising Manager, Demelza, the Foundation was struck by the warmth and dedication of the entire team.

The Special Care Baby Fund supports infants in Bromley who require specialist medical care in their earliest and most vulnerable days. Our grant contributes to a major equipment purchase that will directly improve the care available to these tiny patients and their anxious families.

Our grant contributes to a major equipment purchase that will directly improve the care available to these tiny patients and their anxious families.

Standing Up for Bears and the Wild Places They Call Home

Bears are in our name and at the heart of our founding story. Our wildlife grants this year supported the direct care of two rescued bears on the Isle of Wight, and field research helping bear populations and human communities find ways to coexist, from the recovering mountains of Greece to the endangered Apennine brown bear of Italy.

Pictured Chief Executive Officer of The Wildheart Trust / Wildheart Animal Sanctuary Lawrence Bates and furry friend. Our grant goes directly to support day-to-day welfare for bears at the sanctuary

Benji and Baloo arrived on the Isle of Wight in 2025, rescued from Azerbaijan and brought to one of the UK's most dedicated animal sanctuaries. They are exactly the kind of bears that inspired the founding of this Foundation. Animals who have known hardship and deserve safety, space and genuine care. Our boosted grant goes directly to their day-to-day welfare.

Brown bears are slowly returning to parts of Greece where they had vanished for generations. In the southern Epirus region, in Thesprotia and Arta, local forest services are encountering bear incidents more frequently as populations recover, but lack the equipment to respond. Biologist Maria Psaralexi and the Callisto conservation organisation are building the capacity of local Bear Emergency Teams. Our WildBear Award grant funds three secure camera trap enclosures, protecting vital monitoring equipment in the field.

Our donated Browning trail camera monitors bears but does not disturb them

Paula Mayer, PhD researcher at ETH Zurich's Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development, works at one of conservation's most persistent challenges: how do human communities and large predators learn to live alongside one another? Her research connects Switzerland and Italy, focusing on the endangered Apennine brown bear and the development of 'Bear-Smart Community' committees, bringing together farmers, locals and ecologists in pursuit of workable coexistence. In support we donated a Browning Strike Force Pro X 1080 professional-grade trail camera capable. As a motion-activated, weatherproof field camera it requires no human presence once deployed, making it ideal for continuous, unobtrusive monitoring of bear activity across remote terrain.

Every grant in this report exists because of the generosity of our supporters. Thank you for believing, as we do, that communities are stronger when we care for the vulnerable, champion the curious, and protect the wild. And as always, Everyone's Invited!

To apply for a Brun Bear Foundation grant please visit our dedicated webpage here.