The Garfield Weston Foundation was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston, a businessman who moved to the UK with his family in 1932. He was the creator of Associated British Foods and the Foundation was endowed with a donation of family-owned company shares. As a result, the Foundation is still the ultimate controller of the company today.
Willard Garfield Weston
Garfield (Garry) Howard Weston
Garfield Weston Snr. was succeeded as chairman of both Associated British Foods and the Garfield Weston Foundation by one of his sons, Garfield Howard Weston (Garry), who in the second half of the 20th century successfully developed the company into a major international organisation, and at the same time became one of the UK’s most well regarded philanthropists.
During Garry’s time as chairman (over nearly 25 years) the Foundation’s annual donations grew from less than
£1 million to over £30 million and he made a positive impact on numerous projects, both large and small, throughout the United Kingdom.
The Trustees today are all lineal descendants of the founder and remain committed to continuing the family’s philanthropic ethos that has made the Foundation one of the largest and most respected charitable institutions in the country. Each year the Foundation spends all of the income it receives and donations continue to grow. In 2018 the Foundation’s total donations will exceed £1billion.