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Unlock the talent inside

Since 1962 the Koestler Awards have played a unique, national role in motivating prisoners, secure hospital patients and immigration detainees to take part in the arts. The awards are simple and powerful – we reward achievement, build self-confidence and broaden horizons for some of society’s most disadvantaged and marginalised people.

Our work harnesses the uniquely transformative power of the arts to help individuals learn the skills and gain the confidence to live creative, positive and productive lives. Each year we receive more than 7,000 entries from over 3,500 entrants across the UK in 52 categories. More than 2,000 Awards are granted by over 100 esteemed judges, and each year culminates in a curated exhibition at Southbank Centre which showcases the incredible power of the arts to transform lives.

  • Our Supporters

Koestler Arts Centre, on the forecourt of HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs
Koestler Arts > Our Supporters

Our Supporters

Thank you to all of our supporters

To achieve our goals we rely on the generous support of our supporters and donors, and we are enormously grateful for all gifts, large and small.

For two generations we have been supporting prisoners, secure patients and immigration detainees to transform their lives through art, and 9/10 of the Koestler Awards are funded thanks to voluntary donations from businesses, trusts and foundations, individuals and gifts in wills.

Thank you to all the individuals and organisations who support our work. Your help allows us to reach and motivate some of society’s most marginalised individuals, providing focus and a chance to celebrate positive achievements.

If you are interested in our work and the role of the arts in supporting the prisoners’ rehabilitative journeys, email the Development Team at support-us@koestlerarts.org.uk or give us a call on 020 8740 0333 to discover more about how you can join our family of supporters.

  • Major Supporters
    • Arts Council England
    • HMPPS
    • CCLA
    • Dawes Trust
    • Garfield Weston Foundation
    • Hammersmith United Charities
    • Henry Smith Charity
    • Interserve Employee Foundation
    • Lloyds Bank Foundation
    • Monument Trust
    • National Offender Management Service
    • Partnerships in Care
    • Paul Hamlyn Foundation
    • Robertson Trust
    • Serco
    • Sodexo Justice Services
    • Triangle Trust
    • Unilink
  • Trusts and Foundations
    • A B Charitable Trust
    • A M G & G Wyburd Trust
    • Alchemy Foundation
    • CD Stockwell Charitable Trust
    • Colston Educational Trust
    • Cottisford Charitable Trust
    • D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
    • Ericson Trust
    • Essex Community Foundation
    • Evan Cornish Foundation
    • Fitton Trust
    • Fowler Smith and Jones Trust
    • Gilander Foundation
    • Hanley Trust
    • The Hiscox Foundation
    • Hochhauser Foundation
    • Honourable M L Astor’s 1969 Charity
    • Jacana Care Trust
    • Jessie Spencer Trust
    • Matthew Trust
    • Mila Charitable Organisation
    • Odin Charitable Trust
    • Ofenheim Charitable Trust
    • Park Hill Charitable Trust
    • Paul Hamlyn Foundation
    • Paul Lunn-Rockliffe Charitable Trust
    • Pitt-Rivers Charitable Trust
    • Reece Thomas Watson Solicitors
    • Robert Gavron Charitable Trust
    • Royal Holloway University School of Law
    • Sir Charles Jessel Trust
    • Sheriffs’ & Recorder’s Fund
    • Stoneybridge Trust
    • Taurus Foundation
    • T. S. Eliot Foundation
    • Valentine Charitable Trust
  • Organisations & businesses
    • Artists’ Collecting Society
    • Arts Society Chiltern Hills Area
    • Arts Society Greater London Area
    • Arts Society Ayrshire
    • Doughty Street Chambers
    • Engaging Minds
    • Criminal Bar Association
    • Foundry Chambers
    • G4S
    • New Scotland Yard
    • CLINKS
    • Prisoners Abroad
    • United Agents
    • Worshipful Company of Weavers
    • Worthing Quakers
  • Scholarship Supporters
    • Barrow Cadbury Trust
    • Bromley Trust
    • Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Trust
    • Monument Trust
    • Catherine Norris
    • William Arthur Rudd Memorial Trust

I am a committed supporter of the rehabilitative benefit of what Koestler provide and, through the excellent contact of the Du Cane Road team, I am kept in touch with what’s happening – not to mention being invited to all the wonderful exhibitions!
I can not recommend more strongly the value in becoming a friend of the trust and supporting the charity’s inspired work.

Pierce Brunt, Award Namer and former exhibition curator

The Koestler Trust not only provides an art market but also brings hope and purpose for those who have lost their freedom and a way of those who are free to show their interest and concern.

Sally Zimmerman, long-term supporter