History of the Beaverbrook Foundation

When the novelist William Gerhardie asked Max Beaverbrook whether Max was not an abbreviation for Maximilian, Beaverbrook replied simply 'No, Maximultimillion.' Money, and the making of it, dominated Beaverbrook's life; and one of his greatest legacies was the creation of the Beaverbrook Foundation, a grant making organisation set up under his direction in 1954.

Of course, Beaverbrook had long been a benefactor to a great number of institutions. In Canada alone, he had set up the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton in 1959; had funded, amongst other projects in Newcastle, an ice rink, the town hall and theatre; and had donated, over many years, large sums of money to the University of New Brunswick, of which he was the Chancellor.

But the creation of the Foundation allowed a structured organisation to monitor and continue gifts long after his death. Funds are distributed to areas that reflected Beaverbrook's interests: at the trustees discretion they may be given to aid, inter alia:

• the erection or improvement of the fabric of any church building
• the purchase of books, papers, manuscripts or works of art
• care of the aged or infirm in the U.K.

The major project of the last decade has been the renovation of Beaverbrook's country house and gardens at Cherkley Court, near Leatherhead, Surrey.