Sarah Ridley is the Director of the Peter Harrison Foundation, with over 30 years’ experience of charitable grant giving in the UK and US.

Sarah spoke to us about the Foundation, how she came to be a part of it and why and how it’s supporting Get Well Stay Well.

Thank you for talking to me today, Sarah. Can you firstly tell me a little about yourself and how you came to be the Director of the Peter Harrison Foundation?

I’ve had a circuitous route to where I am today, but I guess my entire career has been driven by a desire to offer some positive input.

I spent twenty years in the United States, where I started out working for cultural organisations; delivering projects and seeking funding. After I’d done that for about twelve years I shifted to the other side and became a grantmaker, working for the federal government. So, I had the privilege of working for two presidents, helping distribute funds.

I came back to the UK about twenty years ago now and continued as a grantmaker, in various guises before taking the Peter Harrison Foundation role. It was really the right job at the right time for me. I’d met Peter Harrison in a previous role, where we were funding rather similar things. I had been working in a whole variety of sectors and doing some consulting but had been focused on sport and physical activity for a number of years.

After Peter sadly died and the role came up, it just felt the right fit.

In regard to the sport and physical activity, would you say that’s a part of your life on a personal level too?

It is, but I would say I’m more keen on the physical activity rather than sport. I’ve never been a team sport person, but I’ve always been physically active and know how important physical activity is to my mental wellbeing. About five years ago I took up running and really appreciate all the benefits you get from moving and being physically active in some way.

‘There are too many people who are unable to fulfil their potential for a whole variety of reasons, and very often, participation in physical activity can unlock some of those opportunities.’

You mentioned you met Peter Harrison before he died. Could you let me know a little more about him and how the Foundation started?

Of course. Peter was an amazing early pioneer in the computer space. He did tremendously well and sold his business in 1999. With some of the proceeds of that sale he was able to set up the foundation. He was a sportsperson himself and right from the outset was very interested in the power of sport and physical activity to provide opportunities.

His interest in sport was not so much sport for sports sake, but for the opportunities it offers for an enhanced life.

It’s that aspect that has carried through into the grant making. There are a couple of programmes; one of which is not about sport and physical activity, but about providing support for children and young people in the southeast of England who are disabled or live in deprived areas. But about two thirds of the funding go to the opportunities for that are offered through sport and physical activity, so that’s why it fits so well with Get Well Stay Well.

Which brings me to my next question about why the Peter Harrison Foundation decided to fund Get Well Stay Well. What did you see in it, which attracted your attention?

We have worked with several organisations which provide support for people who are involved in the welfare and justice system. And there are dozens, if not hundreds, of organisations doing great grassroots work. The thing that’s special about this project is it’s knitting those projects together to share information. So often, even in the same city, organisations don’t know about each other. That can be charities delivering support, it can be doctors not knowing about the services, etc. The opportunity to share their information on best practice, at a grassroots level, and to influence at a national, systemic level is amazing.

We’re only funding a small part of that project, but we understand our funding will help unlock some of the other things that are already happening.

‘We know what we know, but that’s as much as we know.’

Get Well Stay Well is starting to bring knowledge and data together and gives everyone the ability to connect into the government, to the NHS and to policy makers. That’s really powerful.

We’ve touched on this already but, on a larger scale, what are you hoping to see from Get Well Stay Well?

Well, there’s the dream isn’t there? A well-oiled project, well connected taskforce, with clear messaging, so anybody who should know about these issues does know and knows where to go for information, insight, and support.

Far easier said than done but one has to dream big to be able to deliver. I think the guys at Alliance of Sport are incredible with what they’ve achieved so far with Get Well Stay Well.

‘It just feels like so many people have had so few opportunities, and in fact, have such negative opportunities.’

You need to have ambitious realists, or realistic ambitious people, to really help achieve the kind of change that’s required. And hopefully this is the right time for this project; gathering information, gathering momentum, having a shared understanding of where interventions can be helpful.

It’s going to take time and that’s why getting buy in from the highest levels as well as grassroots is so important. And it’s so important that there is somebody who’s willing to facilitate it. With projects it can be easy to lose track, with things going off track or being missed. But Get Well Stay Well is committed to the long term and will stay on top of it and bring everything back together when needed.

James and Justin have a plan but also the ability to see an opportunity and adapt that plan.

From your perspective and that of the Foundation what can physical activity and sport bring to positive change across the welfare and justice system?

We can easily talk about physical benefits, but I think mental health benefits are hugely important too. That can be everything from blowing off a bit of energy to going out and doing a bit of exercise to boost your mood.

I think there’s many benefits to being physically active on a very personal level, and it’s about providing opportunities. Those opportunities won’t be right for everybody, but we want to make sure they are out there, because they can be so transformational for people.


The Peter Harrison Foundation’s Active Lives funding supports organisations that use participation in grassroots sports and physical activity as a catalyst for helping individuals across the UK who face physical, mental, social, or economic disadvantages. This funding aims to develop personal skills and assist individuals in discovering and fulfilling their potential.

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