The grant-maker The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust has made a £3m donation to the young people’s homelessness charity Centrepoint.
The gift, which is the biggest individual donation the charity has received in its 52-year history, will go towards Centrepoint’s Independent Living Programme, which aims to build 300 homes in London and Manchester to be rented to young people at affordable rates.
The trust, which makes donations of about £50m a year, has made more than 1,000 grants totalling almost £290m.
It focuses on three main areas: health and wellbeing; welfare and education; and arts and culture.
Sally Orlopp, director of Centrepoint’s Independent Living Programme, said: “The difference this major donation will have on youth homelessness in London and Greater Manchester is simply incalculable.
“It will go a long way in touching the lives of so many people and on behalf of Centrepoint I cannot emphasise our gratitude enough for what The Julia and Han Rausing Trust has enabled.”
A statement from The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust said: “Centrepoint’s ambition to end youth homelessness for the coming generation is a formidable task, but having seen the impact it has made on the lives of so many already, we have no doubt it will realise its ambition. It is an honour to extend our support.”