The Manly Trust, which supports a wide range of charities working with young people and promoting engineering careers, celebrated its 30th anniversary in November 2021

Founded by former CIBSE President Graham Manly in memory of his father AG Manly in 1991, and in the first 30 years provided more than £1.5m worth of funding through 380 grants made to 130 different charities and causes.

AG Manly in Wandsworth was founded in 1948 and became one of the largest independent building services engineering firms in the UK. Graham joined the company in 1972 and became managing director 10 years later. The company was sold to Gratte Brothers in 2002.

Both father and son served as Presidents of the Heating & Ventilating Contractors Association (now BESA).  Graham was also President of CIBSE in 2004 and was awarded an OBE for his contribution to building services engineering in 2012. He died in 2019.

Throughout Graham’s 40-year career, he championed many causes but had a particular passion for supporting young engineers through education, training, and careers development. He wanted to make sure this support would continue by setting up the Trust.

Initiatives

The grants made by the Manly Trust focus on charitable initiatives and projects, mainly in London, Surrey and Sussex, that engage with young people, their education and developing their interest in STEM subjects – with a particular focus on engineering.

As well as many long-standing financial contributions to charities, the Trust supports several individual students through bursary funding at institutions such as London South Bank University, in partnership with CIBSE, and the University of Surrey.

It has supported 66 sixth form students over 15 years through Arkwright Scholarships and numerous apprentices and young engineers through the Alfred Manly Management Award in partnership with BESA. The Trust also provides bursaries to finalists in the CIBSE ASHRAE Graduate of the Year awards every year.

It also seeks to encourage interest in engineering from an even younger age through educational projects, particularly aimed at those from disadvantaged backgrounds or among those less well represented in the industry.  These include Surrey SATRO, In2scienceUK, the Smallpeice Trust, and EDT.

Beyond engineering, numerous local charitable causes have been supported particularly those that support people with disabilities, life-limiting illnesses or who have been excluded from education. These include the Surrey Care Trust, Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, and St Catherine’s Hospice.

Trustees celebrate the 30th year

From its inception, Manly Trust has been run by Graham’s wife, Margaret.  As the Trust celebrates its 30^th Anniversary, Margaret will step down from the Board of Trustees, leaving the remaining four Trustees to steer the ship.

• David Montgomery, retired chartered accountant
• Ewen Rose, Director at McGowan Rose Associates
• Tim Dwyer, Honorary Professor in Building Services Systems, UCL
• David Manly, son of Graham and grandson of AG Manly