Our Mission
The Matthew Good Foundation's Mission
We exist to drive meaningful social and environmental change by equipping high potential grassroots non-profits to succeed and collaborating with businesses to amplify their impact
Our Vision
We envision a world where collaborative action between non-profits and businesses leads to lasting social and environmental transformation
£'s Donated
Causes Supported
Member applications granted
£'s awarded via Grants for Good
Films funded
How it began
The Matthew Good Foundation was the idea of Tim Good and Matthew Good, both sixth-generation custodians of the Good family business, John Good Group. Passionate about the business being a force for good, Tim and Matthew agreed that every year the family business would donate a proportion of its profits to the Foundation, so that employees could apply for charity funding and support in communities they care about.
Tragically, while creating the Foundation, Matthew passed away suddenly while taking part in the Humber Half Marathon, raising money for charity. In tribute to him, the Foundation was launched in his memory. Our first project funded research and promoted safety and best practice in race medicine, and in the treatment of illnesses commonly found during marathons and similar events.
The John Good Group
The John Good Group continues to support our growth by funding all our core running costs. They also provide a wealth of pro-bono support through the skills and resources within the company. Supporting and growing the impact of the Matthew Good Foundation is a key part of the John Good Group’s own award-winning ESG programme. Their support means that 100% of donations received by the Matthew Good Foundation from other donors go directly to fully vetted small charities, non-profits and voluntary groups, through our Grants and Charity Films programmes.
As well as setting up the Foundation and covering our operating costs, the John Good Group is also our biggest partner. They enable us to fund and develop all of our growing programmes. We also manage a bespoke Employee Giving package for the John Good Group, tailored to how the company wants to allocate funds and resources. The programme supports employees to make a difference to the causes that matter to them, through charitable giving and volunteering.
Our Programmes
The Matthew Good Foundation creates social impact through three major programmes. Our core mission is to help businesses build meaningful, lasting connections with high-impact small charities. We also provide support that goes beyond funding, helping charities access volunteering, charity films, longer-term grants and other opportunities that amplify their impact.
Grants for Good
Our unique charity funding support model connects small non-profits doing amazing work with businesses that want to make a meaningful social impact. For businesses, it’s a flexible giving programme. It creates personal connections, involves employees in choosing who gets funded, and helps demonstrate commitment to social responsibility. For non-profits, it means easier access to business funding – often hard to find without dedicated resources.
Amplify Charity Films
Non-profits often face more than a funding gap. Many also lack the time, resources, or expertise to communicate their impact effectively, even when that impact is significant. Through our close connections to the business world, we’re able to help. We fund and coordinate the production of professional short films that tell a charity’s story in a compelling way, helping them attract funders, reach service users, or build wider support for their cause.
Amplify Charity Grants
Amplify Charity Grants provides unrestricted, longer-term charity funding support to a small number of charities we select directly. It supports the everyday running costs that are vital to a charity’s work, but which can be hard to fund through other routes. We work closely with each organisation over an extended period, typically three years or more, focusing on grassroots initiatives that align with our goals for people and planet.
Timeline
Key milestones in our funding and charity support journey
2011
Matthew and Tim Good had the idea to create a charitable foundation. When Matthew passed away suddenly while running for charity, the Foundation was launched in his memory as the Matthew Good Foundation. It was initially run by trustees and volunteers from the Good family and John Good Group employees.
2012
We committed to our first Amplify Charity Grant: a dedicated fund for projects promoting safety and best practice in race medicine. This included the treatment of illnesses commonly seen during marathons and similar events. As a result, this work later grew into the International Institute for Race Medicine (IIRM), now part of World Athletics, and led us to build our own app to help keep runners safe.
2012
The Employee Giving Programme launched for the John Good Group and its operating companies. It matches and double-matches employees' charitable fundraising and donations. It also lets staff apply for grants for small local projects they care about.
2018
We completed our first charity film, for WaterHarvest. Through this, we saw first-hand how we could help charities access not just funding, but valuable resources like film. After helping several more charities plan and access professional film support, we formally launched this as Amplify Charity Films in 2022. We also took on our first dedicated member of staff to help grow the Foundation.
2021
Running the Employee Giving Programme showed us a large funding gap for small charity grants. So, to accelerate our mission, we launched Grants for Good to accept external applications from small charities for the first time. Through this, we gave away £60,000 annually to micro-charities and small non-profits, through the John Good Group.
2022
Increased commitment from the John Good Group helped us grow significantly. As a result, we took on a second member of staff. Then we launched an Employee Volunteering programme, helping John Good Group employees build closer connections in their community. Over the following four years, we also expanded our board to support our growth plans and took on three more staff to help run and grow our programmes.
2026
Drawing on 15 years of experience, we're now working with responsible businesses beyond the John Good Group. Grants for Good, which now receives up to 1,000 applications every quarter, is open for new business partnerships. This helps bridge the small-charity funding gap and connects businesses with high-impact community projects.
Our Trustees
Our trustees bring experience across business, philanthropy and the charity sector
Tim Good
Known for his energy, ideas and entrepreneurial spirit, Tim is passionate about the businesses he is involved in having a measurable purpose that makes a positive difference to the world.
Tim founded the Foundation in 2011 in his brother’s memory, and he plays an active role in many of our projects.
Kevin Harrison
Kevin is a leader in the Travel industry. He is a Director at John Good Group’s travel management company, and also a Board Director at the BTA.
With a passion for philanthropy and community service, Kevin is heavily involved with volunteering in the town where he lives, and has been a trustee since the Foundation was first formed in 2011.
Emma Bryden
Emma Bryden is a customer and market intelligence consultant at Royal London. She has experience in the charity and environmental sectors through voluntary roles in Scotland’s Young People’s Forest panel, Nature Scot’s Future Routes Fund and Community Resilience projects.
Emma is the youngest member of our board, with a familial connection to the Good family and the John Good Group.
Jamie Lewis
Jamie is an active contributor to the charitable sector in Hull and East Yorkshire.
Motivated by his own experiences in the care system, he started his career in social care, and is currently the CEO of HEY Smile Foundation.
Jamie has also held a number of other appointments locally including Chair of Pride in Hull, Chair of City of Hull Street Angels and Trustee of Fitmums and Friends.
Jonathan Greenwood
Jonathon is very experienced in the fundraising landscape.
He is Trusts and Foundations Manager at the University of Hull. He is also Secretary at the Ferens Education Trust, Head of Grants for Two Churches One Town in Beverley.
Jonathan has also been a Trustee at Tigers4Ever and at RSPCA Hull & East Riding.
Niall McCann
Niall is a National Geographic Explorer, conservationist, and broadcaster focused on humankind’s relationship with nature.
He is a member of the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Trustee of the Wallacea Trust and the Ecoflix Foundation, and Ambassador for the British Inspiration Trust, Smash Life and Millimetres2Mountains Foundation.
A seasoned adventurer, Niall has rowed the Atlantic, skied Greenland, and cycled the Himalayas.
Our Team
Our team brings together expertise from the charity, social enterprise and business sectors to deliver impactful funding programmes for small charities
Kirsty Clark
Kirsty has 15 years of experience supporting vulnerable groups and driving social change. Her background in Social Work and leadership at a youth homelessness charity brings valuable insight to our next phase of growth, which aims to provide more support for small charities.
Vicky Mulligan
Vicky keeps the day-to-day running of our grant-making activity on track, making sure our processes work smoothly. With a background in customer-facing roles, she brings a natural people focus, and a growing role in employee engagement at John Good Group, helping colleagues make the most of our volunteering programme.
Jennifer Duck
Having worked in the creative and marketing industries, Jen loves to prove that creative projects can meet strategic goals. Now she brings those skills to the Foundation, leading on communications, impact reporting, and the platforms and systems that power our grant-making.
Tracy Keenan-Smith
A long-standing Foundation member, Tracy is passionate about supporting charities and brings a deep connection to our mission. Alongside her role at DAN Shipping (part of John Good Group), she supports our growing grant-making activity, helping us stay organised as our impact expands.
Kathryn Biggin
With a background spanning business development and marketing across commercial and charitable sectors, Kathryn brings a unique understanding of how businesses and charities can work together effectively. She leads our partnerships with business clients, helping them build funding programmes that create real impact.