Friends Of Hereward College
Charity 1159732
Overview
Summary
Friends Of Hereward College appears to occupy a bridging role between a specialist educational setting and wider disabled-community participation. Its purpose is not limited to supporting current students: the charity’s objects extend to past students and connected charitable purposes, while its activities describe ambitions for the wider disabled community. Its grant-making model suggests it may enable opportunities through others as well as through direct support, potentially making it a flexible source of inclusion-focused resources around the college.
Operational geography
Coverage: Regional
Operational areas:
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Remaining uncertainties
- Direct evidence: the Charity Commission records Birmingham City, Coventry City and Warwickshire as places where the charity operates. However, it does not identify any Birmingham ward, venue, delivery site, grant recipient or programme location.
- Direct evidence indicates that the charity's established activity is closely tied to Hereward College in Tile Hill, Coventry: current funding supports learners at the college, and the charity does not own or lease land or property. This suggests that the Coventry college campus is its evidenced operational base, rather than a Birmingham site.
- A March 2026 West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner award funds Friends of Hereward College for an inclusive victims' rights programme over the next 12 months within a regional funding programme. It may indicate a current extension of activity beyond the college, but the published announcement does not establish whether or where this programme will be delivered in Birmingham.
- The available evidence supports a regional overall footprint rather than a neighbourhood-, district- or Birmingham-citywide operational identity: the charity reports operating across three local-authority areas and is linked to a West Midlands programme. This is an interpretation of the reported geography, not evidence of services in every part of Birmingham.
- No Birmingham ward or recognised place can be included confidently. Birmingham City is reported at local-authority level, which cannot safely be converted into a ward or City Centre.
Additional evidence needed
- A current delivery plan, grant agreement or impact report for the Victims' Code Innovation Fund programme identifying its delivery locations, referral routes and intended Birmingham participants.
- A current Friends of Hereward College annual report or project-level report listing grants made, activities delivered and the locations of beneficiary organisations or events.
- Confirmation from Friends of Hereward College or Hereward College of any current Birmingham-based partner venues, supported placements, outreach sessions or grant recipients.
Areas of work
- Disability
- Education/training
Who they help
- People With Disabilities
How they help
- Makes Grants To Individuals
- Makes Grants To Organisations
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A college-linked charity with a wider community horizon
The organisation appears rooted in Hereward College but oriented beyond the institution itself. Its remit may connect students, former students and the wider disabled community through shared educational and social aspirations.
Why it matters
This suggests the charity could be a relationship-builder around the college, rather than simply an internal student-support fund. Its potential value may lie in helping transitions and connections beyond formal education.
Show evidence
“The objects support students of Hereward College and other charitable purposes connected with the college and its past and present students.”
Source:Charity Commission“The charity aims to provide Hereward College students with disabilities and the wider disabled community with opportunities or resources.”
Source:Organisation
Grant-making may be its main route to influence
By making grants to both individuals and organisations, the charity appears able to support personal needs while also enabling activities or provision delivered by other groups.
Why it matters
This dual route may make the charity a useful connector: it could identify unmet needs among disabled people while strengthening organisations able to respond to them.
Show evidence
“The charity makes grants to individuals and makes grants to organisations.”
Source:Charity Commission“The charity works in education/training and disability.”
Source:Charity Commission
Its stated ambition is participation, not only educational attainment
The organisation frames social and educational development as routes towards more equal and active contribution to society. This may indicate an inclusion-focused understanding of disability that reaches beyond classroom outcomes.
Why it matters
This helps distinguish the charity from a narrowly academic support fund and raises questions about whether it funds social participation, confidence, access, physical activity or community connection alongside education.
Show evidence
“The charity seeks to enhance the development of social and educational aspirations.”
Source:Organisation“The charity aims to allow disabled people to more equally and actively contribute to society.”
Source:Organisation
- Whether support is primarily directed to current Hereward College students, former students or the wider disabled community.
- Which organisations receive grants and whether these relationships create a local support network.
- What types of opportunity or resource the charity funds in practice, and what outcomes result.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports or grant lists showing recipients, purposes, amounts and geographic reach.
- Information on eligibility, decision-making and examples of support provided to individuals and organisations.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Friends of Hereward College aims to provide Hereward College students with disabilities and the wider disabled community with opportunities or resources that enhance their development of social and educational aspirations allowing them to more equally and actively contribute to society.
Charity objects
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION (INCLUDING SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL TRAINING)FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT OF STUDENTS OF HEREWARD COLLEGE (IN THE WEST MIDLANDS)AND FOR SUCH OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES AS ARE CONNECTED WITH THE COLLEGE AND ITS PAST AND PRESENT STUDENTS IN SUCH A MANNER AS THE TRUSTEES IN THEIR DISCRETION DETERMINE.