About Us

The Vardy Foundation is the charitable trust of the Vardy family and was established in 1989.

Since then, the Foundation has awarded grants and made donations to hundreds of worthy causes and organisations involved in many varied projects both at home and abroad.

A registered charity since 1989 (number 328415), the Foundation's funds have come from shares in Reg Vardy plc transferred from Sir Peter Vardy's personal shareholding in the motor retail group, of which he was Chief Executive. Sir Peter sold the business in February 2006 to Pendragon plc.

Reg Vardy started in business as a 14-year-old in 1923 at Houghton-le-Spring near Sunderland, initially selling fruit and vegetables from a hand-cart before moving on to deliver coal with a horse and cart. This developed into a fully fledged haulage business. In 1946, he sold his first car from a site he bought at Stoneygate, near Houghton-le-Spring, and four years later became an authorised Ford dealer.

Reg Vardy died in 1976, but under his three sons - David, Peter and John - the business continued to grow with luxury makes including Aston Martin, Ferrari and Rolls Royce coming to the Stoneygate showroom in the late 1970s. Peter took overall control of the motor retailing side of the business in 1982 and developed it to be the most successful motor retail group in Europe.

All applications to the Foundation for grants and donations are considered personally by Sir Peter. There are three main criteria against which they are measured:

Projects that involve, help and encourage young people
Projects, if in the UK, should ideally be based in the North of England
Projects should be run against a backdrop of Christian values

Education is a key area that has received support from The Vardy Foundation. In addition to the Emmanuel Schools Foundation which comprises Emmanuel College in Gateshead, The King's Academy in Middlesbrough and The Trinity Academy in Doncaster, it has financed a new school for 400 children in Bolivia and another for 500 children in South Africa.

It has supported the Columba 1400 community and international leadership centre on the Isle of Skye, of which the Princess Royal is Patron, and Caring For Life, a farm-based project which offers homeless and vulnerable young people in Leeds day care and pre-employment training opportunities in agriculture.

Other significant donations £25,000 to Kepier School in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, which helped make it eligible for specialist sports status, and £100,000 to County Durham Foundation which provides a permanent source of local funding for community-based projects.

In 2003 The Vardy Foundation gave £1.25 million to Mercy Ships, whose floating hospitals visit African countries to provide medical treatment on board and at village medical clinics, to supply medical equipment and medicines and to train local health care workers.

In 2006 a major hydro electric scheme was completed in Zambia to provide electricity to a school, hospital and township.

The Foundation is concerned worldwide with the establishment of businesses that will provide long term employment and regeneration in areas of high deprivation.

Thank you for your interest in THE VARDY FOUNDATION

About Us