The Northern Rock Foundation was one of the first organisations to pledge it's support to culture10. Karen Wilson meets the woman at the helm, Fiona Ellis. As director of the region's largest independent funder, Fiona Ellis has helped allocate £79m in grants since the Northern Rock Foundation was set-up in 1997 following the Building Society's conversion to a public limited company. Known for pledging substantial amounts rather than lots of smaller grants, the foundation helped kick-start culture10 earlier this year with a £2m investment towards the campaign's £140m target. This follows a pledge of £51m from the regional partners. But Fiona's job is about far more than just writing out cheques. Although the foundation receives 5pc annually from Northern Rock's pre-tax profits, it is a fully independent charity and company with its own Board of Trustees. Rather than handing out money and sitting back, Fiona and her staff prefer to adopt a partnership approach. "We're not just a money machine," says Fiona, who is also a member of the UK Grants Committee of Comic Relief and sits on the Advisory Council of the Charities Aid Foundation. "Our staff all have specific expertise, such as Carole Bell who specialises in arts and heritage, and Sue Vaughan, who leads on sport and environment. It would be a shame to waste that talent. We are on the culture10 programme committee and have a lot of input into how the money is spent. "Having built up many contacts over the years, we know how the various organisations operate and can advise on things such as how to negotiate with the local authorities. "We share the aspirations of our public sector partners to develop the region's cultural treasures, to support its artists and to make creative opportunities available to its people. The Trustees are keen that we as a region take pride in the recent extraordinary cultural developments in Newcastle, Gateshead and beyond. "Despite the outcome of the capital of culture bid, it's clear that if we build up the cultural structure, the image of the region will improve and that can only bring economic benefits. It's a long process but I've seen it happen in other cities and it's already starting to happen here." The Foundation has a long history of supporting cultural regeneration and in 2003 invested £5m of its £19m total into cultural organisations, buildings and activities in the North East and Cumbria. These have included £216,000 to help Bede's World achieve World Heritage Status, £500,000 for Amber Associates to develop a five-year programme of film and video production, £400,000 towards extending the Theatre Royal and almost £100,000 towards activities to complement Antony Gormley's Domain Field at BALTIC, to name but a few. Since 1997 the Foundation has spent £11.4m on high profile arts, environment and sporting schemes. The Foundation's support has kick-started or underpinned many now familiar and iconic symbols of the region's renaissance including: BALTIC; The Sage Gateshead; and the Centre for the Children's Book. In 2004 the Foundation plans to invest £5m in culture, including supporting the culture10 programme. "We're not just there for the glamorous stuff either," said Fiona. "Although people may know about the more visible projects such as Fashion at Belsay, they may not know that we gave a much bigger grant to restore the roof at the Bowes Museum." As well as cultural projects, the Foundation's primary objective is to help improve the conditions of those most disadvantaged in society. In 2003 the Foundation made 343 grants throughout the region worth nearly £19m. However it receives around 1,200 to 1,400 grant applications per year so is only able to help around one in four who ask for help. "We prefer to give big awards to fund things properly rather than giving very small amounts to everyone," said Fiona. The Foundation has also started offering loans as an extra way of supporting charitable activity. Those to benefit have included a community railway in Weardale and the Lazarus Foundation, a drug rehabilitation project in Sunderland, which would probably have closed without the loan. | 
