PRIVATE banker Neil Lewis says a desire to use his 40 years of financial experience to benefit the community has led to him becoming a trustee of Dorset Community Foundation.
But another inspiration has been caring for his son Ben, 18, who was born with the neurodevelopmental disorder ADNP syndrome. He is non-verbal and faces a range of other intellectual challenges.
Neil, who lives with wife Vicky in Blandford Forum, said: “When we started navigating social services and the medical support it dawned on us how incredibly hard it is, and if you’re vulnerable yourself and then have children that are vulnerable, it becomes so, so, so much harder.
“My daughter Jemma also went through some mental health challenges and we supported her, so these things opened our eyes to the challenges in the world. I want to use what we’ve encountered to help others where I can.”
Neil, who grew up in Jersey and moved to Dorset from Wiltshire in 2004 , said a career largely spent guiding families on their own charitable giving piqued his own interest in philanthropy. “Part of my work involves introducing clients to philanthropy advisers who provide guidance and advice on giving strategies including the use of donor advised funds, charitable trusts and foundations.
“When my clients exited their business there was often a desire to put something back into society. Many have also become very involved in supporting their favoured charities with their time as well as financially. As a result, many private banks have their own philanthropy advisers or strategic partnerships with external organisations to provide appropriate guidance. It also helps us deepen our relationships by adding real value.”
The managing director of a London-based private bank was a governor of Ben’s school, Beaucroft Special School, now Beaucroft College, in Wimborne Minster and helped lead a fundraising campaign to build a £5 million hydrotherapy pool at Livability’s Victoria Education Centre in Poole.
“I’ve got more and more frustrated with the seeming lack of compassion from different parts of government and it’s driven me more towards being compassionate and trying to help people,” he said.
“So this is why becoming a trustee has become a desire and also an itch I needed to scratch. It does help me too because I’m spending more and more time in London and I was worried I was losing some of my Dorset connectivity.”
I sense that there is a real opportunity here and I’d like to help with that growth
He came across Dorset Community Foundation while supporting Blandford Foodbank, which it funded. A former colleague also worked for UK Community Foundations, the network’s umbrella organisation, so he said he knows and agrees with its values and aims.
Additionally, some of his clients had previously been advised to fulfil their own giving objectives through various UK community foundations. He said they have been very impressed with the foundations, especially as they can donate and support local causes with confidence and discreetly.
He said he feels his network of contacts will be an asset for the community foundation. “I’ve got a pretty decent network across Dorset and the wider community and I have a broad set of professional skills,” he said.
“I can bring insights into how professional advisers advise their clients on giving and provide the foundation with a different perspective on the aspirations and the emotional drivers that inspire people to want to give money, as well as helping develop the interactions with potential donors.”
He said he is looking forward to helping the community foundation grow. “The team is doing a great job and in the last financial year it awarded £1.9 million in grants, a significant increase on previous years, which is fantastic,” he said. “But I sense that there is a real opportunity here and I’d like to help with that growth.
“I believe that the experience I’ve gained caring alongside Vicky for Ben, being a school governor in a special school and understanding the challenges that a lot of people have just trying to make ends meet and get through life, is really going to help.”
Pictured: New Dorset Community Foundation trustee Neil Lewis with his son Ben
