Our charity continues the lifetime passion of Michael Varah to reduce offending and build a safer society. It also tackles the wider issues that can cause people to spiral into habitual criminal activity from an early age: disadvantage and social exclusion, homelessness and poverty, ensuring basic human rights.
We work in partnership to give opportunities that rebuild lives.
We do this by supporting projects that:
- Enable disaffected and marginalized people to realize the skills they never thought they had
- Show vulnerable young people an alternative future
- Rehabilitate offenders both before and after release
- Rehouse and retrain the homeless to give them options train and engage with the homeless and long-term unemployed to give options and opportunities.
We build understanding that life is not a level playing field.
We do this by:
- Demonstrating to our supporters the reality of lives affected by crime
- Our personal involvement and knowledge in selecting and assessing the projects we support
- We do this by never judging and never giving up on a fresh start
How it all began
The Michael Varah Memorial Fund was founded by Kate and James Varah after the sudden and early death of their father in April 2007. Third generation charity founders, their grandfather, Chad Varah, founded The Samaritans in 1953, and their father, Michael, founded both Surrey Springboard and The MayDay Trust.
The founders are clear that the MVMF was not established as a shrine to their father’s memory – but to continue his groundbreaking work. They identified a genuine need for a charity which would bring into the mainstream of charitable giving the less ‘sexy’ subject of offender and homeless people’s needs, and all that it takes to rehabilitate someone who is vulnerable – for whatever reason – back into society. The MVMF now has an active Board of Trustees, an energetic Events Committee, and a group of dedicated supporters who collectively change individual lives.
Who we help
The Michael Varah Memorial Fund (MVMF) is a registered charity that identifies, supports, and may commission, projects to transform the lives of those marked by crime and homelessness.
That could mean rehabilitation programmes for ex-offenders; victim support through restorative justice; suitable accommodation for vulnerable members of the community; or working with young people to get them off the streets and engaged in meaningful, life-enhancing projects.
We support retraining, sports, the arts, and other activities that promote teamwork, practical skills, a channel for energy and a sense of self worth. The projects already commissioned and funded give vulnerable people in Surrey, London and beyond, the kind of options that many of us too often take for granted.
