About us

The Brightside Trust exists to help disadvantaged individuals by working to raise their achievement levels and by reducing the social barriers to their success.

Our first programme, the Bright Journals e-mentoring scheme, focuses on helping underprivileged young people to overcome disadvantage and enter into the competitive fields of medicine, dentistry, veterinary sciences and the allied health professions.

We have worked with a variety of partners - medical schools, secondary schools, corporate and government bodies, to deliver a nationwide mentoring tool and training programme to help undergraduate students mentor pupils from under-represented backgrounds.

How we operate
A share-gift from our trustees covers all our administrative and operating costs. This means that any donation to the charity goes directly to our projects.

Our approach is a cyclical one in which we select a target group of socially disadvantaged individuals and focus intensively over two to three years on developing new programmes (and/or supporting existing programmes) to help advance the development of these individuals. Once these programmes mature to a position of self-sufficiency or are suitable for handing over to a partner organisation for long-term management, we begin the cycle again. We are aiming to be a good example of venture philanthropy, bringing together the best of the commercial world and the not-for-profit sector.

The future is bright...
Our long-term goal is to create and sustain a whole portfolio of programmes reflecting the range of different interests and capabilities of the disadvantaged people we exist to help.

Whilst our first project is targeted at the more academically ambitious, future projects could include vocational training programmes, sports and arts projects and business start-up facilities.

Central to all our thinking is the goal of enabling disadvantaged people to achieve their dream by supporting the development of self-confidence and motivation.