A major new grant-making foundation was launched at the House of Lords on 14 February2013.

The Peter Sowerby Charitable Foundation, which registered as a charity in 2011 and is building an endowment of £60m through donations from its founder, will focus on three key areas: medical research and healthcare provision, education, and community and environment. A statement from the foundation said these areas are: “Strongly based on the passions and concerns of Dr Sowerby and his late wife, Ann.”

Sowerby is a former GP and medical entrepreneur who co-founded EMIS, a software company that develops and supplies computer systems used by more than half of GP surgeries in the UK. Based near Whitby, North Yorkshire, Sowerby and Dr David Stables wrote the software with the founding principle that the systems used by GP surgeries should improve patient care.

To celebrate it launch, the foundation announced grants including:

• £2m over five years to the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London to establish the Peter Sowerby Forum for Primary Care, to improve data usage and patient care.
• £1m over 10 years to King’s College London to endow a chair to build on the university’s work on the relationship of philosophy and medicine.
• A grant to the Royal College of GPs to support five Sowerby Innovation Fellows.
• A grant over three years to Marie Curie Cancer Care to fund Marie Curie nurses working in North Yorkshire and York.
• A three year grant to Help the Hospices for their digital ehospice project.
• A grant to Localgiving.com to establish a match-giving scheme in North Yorkshire.

Localgiving.com’s founder, Marcelle Speller OBE, said: “Charities and groups in rural communities, such as North Yorkshire, are often left behind when it comes to online fundraising and awareness.  With these funds, Localgiving.com can help such groups to gain digital skills, raise their profile and receive online donations, thus making them more sustainable.”

The foundation will also announce a variety of major grants to charities working in arts and horticulture and related fields during the coming year.

David Aspinall, chair of trustees for the Peter Sowerby Foundation, said: "We are delighted to be announcing the first major grants for the Peter Sowerby Charitable Foundation. Dr Sowerby has a particular interest in providing support for local initiatives in rural communities and we are excited about the potential for national replication inherent within this Yorkshire pilot for Localgiving.com”

The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications.