Our story
The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by His Majesty King Charles III and a group of British Asian business leaders, to unlock the potential of disadvantaged people in South Asia.
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Our founder
"As each year passes, it raises my spirits to see the growing impact of the British Asian Trust, which I founded a little over 10 years ago."
Our vision and mission
Our vision is a South Asia that is free from poverty, where everyone can meet their full potential.
Our mission is to unlock the potential of disadvantaged people in South Asia by maximising the impact and support from the South Asian diaspora and beyond.
Our programmes
We have five areas of programme work:
• Education
• Livelihoods
• Child protection
• Mental health
• Conservation
We have a strong track record of investing in solutions that work for the long term and that can be taken to scale.
View our three year strategy to deliver our ambitious programmes.
Our values
As an organisation, our culture and the way we work is determined by our values and behaviours. Our values define who we are and what we stand for, bringing our vision to life:
- We are brave – we challenge traditional approaches and seek to disrupt the development agenda
- We have integrity – we are accountable, credible, transparent and trustworthy
- We are passionate – we are driven by a passion for social change and a determination to achieve the most impact possible
- We are entrepreneurial – we are agile, we take opportunities, and innovation and creativity are at the heart of everything we do
- We are one global team – we work together and we work in collaboration and partnership with others to achieve impact at scale
Our behaviours are the way our team apply our values through our day-to-day actions. We regularly review how these are being applied to ensure they continue to support our vision and objectives.
Our journey
To date, our work has supported over 13 million people in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
2007: At the Future Friendship Cup in Glasgow, our Royal Founding Patron, His Majesty The King brings together the India and Pakistan national cricket teams for a match that launches the British Asian Trust.
2009: Our first Education and Livelihoods programmes start in India.
2012: The Sri Lankan and Pakistan Advisory Councils are formed and we launch a Mental Health programme in Pakistan.
2013: The India Advisory Council is formed.
2014: An inaugural Annual Dinner is held at the V&A Museum, raising more than £500K for our work.
2015: Research begins for our new Education programme for India and Pakistan. A Livelihoods programme is launched in Pakistan to support sustainable livelihoods.
2016: The then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit India and host an event in Mumbai. We secure our first UK Aid Match Appeal and raise over £4m, which is matched by the UK Government. Our first Iftar event is held, at The Savoy in London, in support of our Ramadan appeal.
2017: A roundtable discussion on social finance is held at St James’s Palace in the presence of HRH The then Prince of Wales. HRH also visits India and leads an event on social finance.
2018: We raise $11m to launch the world’s largest education Development Impact Bond, supporting more than 200,000 children in India. We launch a £2.6m partnership with BT in India to empower over 100,000 adolescent girls. HRH launches our Founders Circle at a Gala Dinner at Buckingham Palace.
2019: Over £1 million is raised for our Mental Health programme in Pakistan from a coalition of donors led by the CareTech and COSARAF Foundations. The British Asian Trust formally launches in Bangladesh.
2020: The British Asian Trust merges with Elephant Family and launches a new Conservation programme. Katy Perry becomes an Ambassador. Our Big Curry Night In reaches an audience of over 40 million people. The British Asian Heroes campaign enabled us to celebrate and recognise the amazing contribution of British Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic. We raise over £2 million through our ‘If I Can She Can’ appeal for our women’s livelihoods work in Pakistan.
2021: Our India Oxygen Appeal raises £9.3m to support over 2.3m people. London is brought to a standstill with the amazing CoExistence elephants in the Royal Parks that raise more than £4m for our conservation work.
2022: We secure a match funding partnership to launch a £50m Child Opportunity Fund in India. We launch a $14m Skills Impact Bond with the Government of India to secure jobs for more than 50,000 young people. The Quality Education India Development Impact Bond closes with amazing results. Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan becomes our mental health Ambassador. His Majesty King Charles III joins us at three events during the year – our annual Royal Dinner when he was The former Prince of Wales, his first public reception as The King, in Edinburgh, for the British Asian diaspora, and a commemorative event at Buckingham Palace for Ugandan Asians who arrived in the UK 50 years ago.
2023: Our Women’s Economic Empowerment programme in Pakistan continues to secure jobs for thousands of women and young people. The Bangladesh Climate Innovation Fund is launched. The Animal Ball raises over £2m to support our Conservation programmes. British Asian Trust Ambassador, Katy Perry, performs at The King's Coronation Concert.
2024: His Majesty The King continues as Royal Founding Patron of the British Asian Trust. We appoint our first-ever Director in Bangladesh to drive programme growth in the country and launch a new project to support acid attack survivors. In India, our new social finance initiative, LiftEd, aims to improve education outcomes for four million children over five years. Our partnership with BT wins the Social Impact Project of the Year at UK-India Awards 2024. We launch Milkar in Pakistan; a nationwide campaign with Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation raising mental health awareness to more than 100 million people.
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Our people
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