Welcome To The Tannery Charitable Trust

Our Story

It was 1930 in The West Riding, North Yorkshire, England. Grandpa Holmes was making his money in the leather trade. He had factories and workers and success. Then the bombs started dropping; world war two began. Grandpa Holmes went off to fight. He was lucky to come home when the war was over. That was when he met Nana Holmes. That was when I was born.

By the time I grew up, no one needed leather anymore. Grandpa Holmes decided sell his factories and to keep his money for something good one day. He told me all about it. He left the money in my hands. In 1958 I became a chartered accountant in London. I learned lots about money; I worked with it every day. That’s when I met my wife, Janet.

I had been keeping Grandpa Holmes’ money safe for him. In 1997 when my two girls were all grown up Janet and I decided to create a charity with his investment. The Tannery Trust was born. I named it after the memories of the tannery Grandpa Holmes has once owned; the factory that now made it possible for me to help others succeed.

With the knowledge I had gained in accounting and my specialisation in UK charity law, I built on Grandpa Holmes’ legacy: Giving is the best investment.

I began to use Grandpa Holmes’ money in new ways. It started to leave the safe place I had been keeping it in. It started to make a difference. Today, The Tannery Trust seeks to invest in others – their life, skill, education and their future success through the principle of true giving.

The Tannery Trust has stayed in the Holmes family. My daughters and grand-children continue the work through their own involvement in the trust.