The Fenella Fielding Foundation is a not-for-profit company established in 2020 by Fenella Fielding’s friend and collaborator, Simon McKay, to continue creative and charitable projects inspired by the late actress. Rooted in the extensive Fenella Fielding Archive, the foundation develops cultural outputs such as exhibitions, books, CDs, DVDs and other publications, and uses the proceeds to support external charitable initiatives.
Role of the Fenella Fielding Foundation in the funding ecosystem
The foundation’s core aim is to celebrate the life and career of Fenella Fielding OBE while generating income for charity. It explicitly states that any profits from its activities are donated to existing charities, for example the RADA Scholarship Fund, echoing the scholarship support Fenella herself received early in her career. On the main site, the founder further explains that the not-for-profit company raises money for charitable causes, including bursaries for actors from lower-income backgrounds as they begin their careers.
Rather than operating open-call grant competitions, the foundation functions as a small discretionary funder. It curates and produces artistic projects based on the archive, and then directs the net proceeds to partner charities and bursary schemes. This places it within the broader ecosystem of philanthropic organizations that channel cultural heritage into financial support for emerging talent.
Activities and funded themes
The foundation focuses on projects that both honour Fenella Fielding and have income-generating potential for charity. These include portrait and archival exhibitions, screenings such as the Halloween presentation of Carry On Screaming in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, and publications like biographies and memoir-related materials. While the website does not list detailed grant programs, it clearly indicates that beneficiaries include actors and students in financial need, primarily through scholarships and bursaries administered by established institutions.
Publics accompanied and overall impact
By leveraging a unique cultural archive, the Fenella Fielding Foundation supports a mix of artistic, educational and charitable causes. Its impact is felt both in the preservation and public sharing of a notable acting career and in the concrete financial help it channels to aspiring performers from less advantaged backgrounds. As new projects are developed and recorded on the foundation page, they expand the pool of resources available for donations and bursary support.