The Trust was established in 1970 by J.Anthony Clark (1908-1985) when he put a portion of his shares in the family shoe business, C & J Clark into a charitable trust. Known to many as Tony, he worked his way up C&J Clark Ltd. becoming Director and later Chairman of the business. Tony, along with two of his cousins, played a major role in taking the company from a small regional shoe manufacturer to an international brand.
Community was important to Tony: He was High Sheriff of Somerset and represented Street as Somerset County Councillor, serving as its chairman in the 1970’s. Tony had also been a magistrate and initially the Trust focused on supporting police charities, the rehabilitation of offenders and youth crime initiatives.
With the increasing involvement of Tony Clark’s children funding themes became more diversified. In the 1980’s and 1990’s the JA Clark Charitable Trust, as it was then known, began to fund work overseas, including peacebuilding and sustainable development projects in Africa and Asia, in addition to supporting local organisations. The Trustees firmly believing that smaller local charities with strong and passionate leaders are best placed to create social change.
Since its inception, the Trust has funded a wide range of issues and organisations, including peacebuilding in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, women’s empowerment in Africa and Asia, support to human rights defenders and refugees, work with marginalised young people in London, and the protection and restoration of our natural world.
Today, our focus is the climate resilience of forcibly displaced people and the communities that host them. We continue to give preference to strong, well-run local organisations and the projects we fund make a real difference to people’s wellbeing while also protecting the environment and reducing harmful carbon emissions.
jaclarktrust.org 