The Shears Foundation is proud to have supported a diverse range of charities over our 26 year history. Our trustees work hard to select groups that best help us achieve our objectives across all our priority areas. The groups below have been kind enough to share their story for our website. We hope they give you a flavour of what we do and bring alive the impact of The Shears Foundation.

York-based Musical Connections enables vulnerable and isolated older people to lead happier, healthier, more connected lives through participating in weekly music groups and choirs. During the pandemic, they have provided intensive social support and musical engagement to 160+ regular members.
Haemochromatosis UK support over 14,000 families every year to live well with iron overload disorder. It’s the UK’s most common genetic condition, directly affecting over 380,000 people. Although it is commonplace, the condition is significantly under-diagnosed in the UK.
Caring for a child who has a life shortening condition and multiple, complex disabilities can be both worrying and exhausting.  The Children and Young Adult Service at St Oswald’s Hospice provides specialist short breaks for this group of young people (from birth to 25 years).
Samling Institute for Young Artists—through a wide range of performance and learning opportunities—nurtures young classical singers and piano accompanists. From students to emerging professionals, many hundreds of young artists have benefited since the charity was founded in 1996.
Founded in 1992 Seaham Music Academy is all about opportunity. We teach string, woodwind, and brass instruments as well as keyboard, guitar and drums from beginner level upwards. We also give performances throughout the year. We welcome anyone....and try to enjoy ourselves!
For many years the Shears Foundation has sponsored bursaries and assisted places at Bradford Grammar School. This has enabled a number of children from lower and middle income backgrounds to attend one of the North’s leading independent day schools.
Over the years that The Shears Foundation have been supporting Seven Stories, our learning work has grown beyond our first expectations in its reach and variety.
The Shears Foundation have supported the Roots and Shoots Project at The Alnwick Garden for over 9 years. In this time their generous support has helped over 2000 young people from schools across Northumberland to benefit from hands on gardening and health education activities.
WFN gives funding, training and recognition to local conservation leaders working in resource-poor, biodiversity-rich countries. We offer three types of grant to enable conservationists to scale up their vital work and make a real and measurable difference to wildlife and local communities.
As a small charity we are immensely grateful for the support of the Shears Foundation. We take on  multi-year commitments with many different projects, and their help has freed up our general funds, enabling us to plan new projects and reach more people.
Each year West End Refugee Service welcomes, helps and empowers over 500 men and women who have fled persecution and supports their integration into the wider community.
The Mouse House is a space within the Great North Museum: Hancock dedicated to under 5’s and their families.  The Mouse House programme inspires these families to engage with the wider museum, its collections, exhibitions, and university research through a series of playful sessions