Welcome To
the orp foundation
Image credits: NeilMcIntyre_scotlandbigpicture.com
Image credits: PeterCairns_scotlandbigpicture.com
About Us
The Orp Foundation is a UK charitable trust set up in 2011 by first and second-generation descendants of refugees. The five children of Hans Oppenheimer, and their fifteen children, wanted to create a lasting legacy with proceeds made by Hans in his successful international steel trading business. Hans and his wife Liesl were Jewish and consequently had to leave their homelands of Germany and Austria respectively in the 1930’s. They initially settled in Egypt before the second world war, where they started a family. Hans and Liesl then faced discrimination in Egypt following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, so in 1949 they emigrated to the UK. This explains why refugees are a core theme for our charity. As a family we are also passionate about environmental protection and improving the lives and educational opportunities of children. There are over 70 family members, most of whom live in the UK with some now living in the US, Spain and Switzerland.
The Orp Foundations’ present priorities are:
Children and education – with an emphasis on disadvantaged children.
Refugees, asylum seekers and human rights.
The environment – action to address and reduce climate change and the ecological crisis.
These priorities are reviewed on an annual basis by the Trustees and may change. The Trustees like to fund charities that are often less popular with mainstream funders or the public, and where support can therefore have more of an impact. The Trustees like to fund organisations that have a broader or national impact, for instance in influencing policy or research.
The Orp Foundation: Registered Charity Number 1140855
Testimonials
Grant Decision Process
The Orp Foundation does not accept unsolicited enquiries or applications.
Through partnership work, research, and consultation with the wider family, we identify organisations we want to work with. We then make contact with those organisations and projects and invite them to consider making application proposals to us.