Prior to his retirement in 1974, Norman Collinson was Chairman of Leak & Thorp Limited, a large department store in York. During his lifetime Norman Collinson was a regular and generous benefactor of charitable causes. In 1978 he decided to form the Norman Collinson Charitable Trust because he strongly believed that as he had benefited commercially from the people of York, he wanted to return some of that benefit to the community.

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A Trust Deed was prepared and was formally signed in 1979. The Trust was registered as a Charity (No 277325). The Trust Deed stipulates that ‘The Trustees shall hold the income of the Trust Fund on trust to pay or apply the same to such lawfully established Charities or for such lawful charitable purposes and in such shares and in such a manner as they in their absolute discretion think fit.’  

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Norman Collinson died in 1984.  The capital of the Trust was provided by Norman Collinson, with a further generous donation by his brother, the Rev G W Collinson once the Trust was established.

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The Charity continues to deliver funding in York and strives to honour the legacy of Norman Collinson who had such foresight in establishing the charity in 1979.
 

The Clerk to the Trustees is Dianne Hepworth (see Contact page for details).