THE man behind a new foundation that's been set up in York said he feels 'very lucky' to be in a position to help small local charities across Yorkshire. 

Matty Lewis is head of foundation at the York-based Fortus Foundation which helps support community groups, schools and small charities across the region with grants of between £500 and £10,000.

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Originally part of the men's mental health group Yorkey Dads, Matty is already well-known to many people in York as one of five friends who in 2018 set up men's social wellbeing group Menfulness which provides in-person and online support to men in the York area.

He says that at the start of this year he was approached by Craig Herbert CEO of the business advisory and accountancy firm Fortus who have offices in Shipton Road in the city.

"I feel very lucky. I feel like I have landed on my feet," said Matty.

"Craig knew about me running Menfulness and explained he wanted to set up a registered charity to help other small charities access funding.

"There is not a lot of funding out there, but when you try to fill out the applications it's difficult and the process is long and drawn out.

"Recognising that, I wanted the foundation to be funding small charities, schools and community groups.

"We are also launching a campaign called Go Give One where I am encouraging business owners to contribute one per cent of the profit, which with tax offset is 0.75 per cent, to the foundation."

Craig said: "Matty was a fairly obvious choice to be honest, if we are to achieve what we believe this foundation can achieve within the community.

"It's about doing something good to give back to the community we serve on a daily basis.

"The potential and impact is huge.

"We have offices in York, Scarborough and Leeds and we are engaging with business owners in those locations.

"The thing for us is getting as many one percenters as we possibly can - and every single penny that people pay goes into this foundation and out the door to charities and community groups."

Matty said that in addition to Fortus as a company taking part in Go Give One, and roughly half of the 100 members of staff from the firm are also taking part in a salary sacrifice scheme with one per cent of their take home pay going to the foundation.

The charity's running costs are covered by Fortus’ own commitment of not only one per cent of profit, but also one per cent of turnover - so every donation goes directly to small charities and community groups. 

If you want to contact Matty about grants please email matty.lewis@fortusfoundation.co.uk