The apprentice: a philanthropist in the making

"Philanthropy is for me not just writing out a large cheque for a worthy cause. Most companies that give a budgeted sum to charities each year are not being philanthropic, they are corporate donors.

Persons who contribute sums well within their means to appeals from their local church or old college are good citizens, not philanthropists.

I am, I think, a generous person both of my time and money. The first step of the journey was giving to members of the family, helping them find a job, paying for schooling, buying something for their house, and the like. Whatever it was, it required an involvement with the family, a wish to improve their lives. Thanks there were, but I did not need it. My satisfaction was in seeing the improvement in the life of these persons and the happiness that this brought to their nearest and dearest. This generosity is now spread well beyond the close family, giving time and money to support many or just to bring happiness to a lot of people who do not expect it or have a right to it.
 
The next step in my journey extended my giving to causes beyond an extended circle of family and friends to institutions with which I have close associations. I have given what for me were large donations to universities in the UK and USA, often to help promote the sports that I consider to be an important part of education  – mens sana in corpore sano. In thanks to my old school – in spite of the incredible number of canings I received in the early years there – I was very happy to pay for a new boarding house which we defined in a series of meetings with some consultants as the first step needed for a total update of the facilities. The school has been going since 1514, and I want to ensure that it continues to attract good pupils and turn out well-educated citizens to ensure the future generations of our country.   

By my own definition I am just an apprentice philanthropist. I have always wanted to promote education, as I see this – with medicine – as the prime way to improve this world. I applaud the Catholic Church for its schools in Africa, which I consider will do more to improve standards there than all the aid programmes. I also recognise that my own good education has been a foundation for my success in business. Giving to my old school qualified as philanthropy, I think, because I initiated the study, worked on the final definition and then paid for its completion. But it is very hard to extend this philanthropy to universities especially in the UK, unless you are going to give a very large sum that will require you to identify the object and then to be involved from the start in defining and completing it. Short of that, your university or college will chase after you, wine you and dine you, and then hope they will get a cheque which they can spend as they wish. So, with no 'cause' to get involved in, I decided as an avid book collector to get involved in the library of my old college and have given or bought them very valuable books that they could never justify using their limited funds to buy. 

Now I am a potential philanthropist looking for a cause. But don’t write to me with your cause – it has to be born in me and become my baby."

Brian Fenwick-Smith
Born in Hull in 1935, and educated at Pocklington School in East Yorkshire, and St John’s College, Cambridge, Fenwick-Smith trained as a chartered accountant before switching to industry. He set up his own food processing company in Northern Germany among others before selling most in 1990 to concentrate on machinery and equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. By 2001 he had built this group into 31 companies spread around the world with over 1000 employees and sales of over €170m. After accepting an offer for the group, Fenwick-Smith now manages a few small companies and  some major investments in private companies. He enjoys time with his family of four children spread around the world and 10 grandchildren.