HISTORY OF THE AIM FOUNDATION AND NUTRITIONAL WELLBEING FOUNDATION
At the time of the sale of Trebor Limited to Cadbury in 1989, Angela and Ian Marks decided to gift some of their share of the proceeds to their family foundation, The AIM Foundation.
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Ian became Chair of Cytoplan Ltd, a vitamin and mineral supplement company and major shareholder and in 1999 he gifted his shares to The AIM Foundation. In his letter of wishes he restricted the dividends to be used for the advancement of health. In 2008 all the remaining shares in Cytoplan were transferred to The AIM Foundation.
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In 2006 Angela and Ian Marks’ children Pippa Bailey, Caroline Marks, Joanna Pritchard Barret and Nic Marks became Trustees. The new Trustees gradually took on more responsibility for proposing charities for funding and administration. Caroline Marks took over as Chair in 2016/17, and Angela and Ian became Founder Trustees. Caroline and Nic Marks became Non-Executive Trustees of Cytoplan.
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Since 2016/17 funds have been transferred from Cytoplan to a restricted fund within The AIM Foundation to further these advancing health objects, which are different from the objects and strategy of The AIM Foundation. AIM set up a separate grant programme with a clear focus on Nutrition for Health and Wellbeing grant making. The strategy has been to increase the understanding of nutrition and its importance for health amongst health practitioners. Since 2018 AIM has funded several charitable and not-for-profit organisations that are leading the way in Nutrition Education for Health Care Professionals and since 2021 addressing Childhood Obesity.
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However, since the Founders death, the AIM Trustees considered that the objects would be best pursued by persons with a specific interest in and knowledge of the subject matter of advancing health for the benefit of the public. In order to have an arm’s length relationship between the business and the Family Foundation in 2022 Nic Marks resigned as a Trustee of AIM and two independent Trustees were recruited. Caroline Marks resigned as a Non-executive Director of Cytoplan Ltd and remained as Chair of AIM.
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In July 2023 the Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation (NWF) (1203987) was registered as a separate CIO. The Cytoplan shares will be transferred by the end of 2023. Caroline Marks is Chair and a new Trustee board, bringing a breadth of relevant experience, is in the process of being set up. They will have oversight of Cytoplan Ltd, who will be providing funds annually, but not involved in operational decisions of the business. The current grant commitments within the Nutritional Wellbeing programme of The AIM Foundation will continue to be funded. They will be administered by NWF from January 2024. A strategic review will be undertaken by the new Trustee board in early 2024.