The Beyond Finance Charitable Trust
An Inspiring Message from the Trustees – Peter and Miriam Green
The ‘County Financial Charitable Trust’ was established on 6th January 1998 by trustees, Peter and Miriam Green and Alan Lander. This had been our objective ever since the incorporation of County Financial Limited in 1995.
From the very beginning of County in 1985, we have regarded the business as a gift from God, to be stewarded under his direction, to serve his purposes in our world. We have been inspired by some great men and women of God and the way they approach and make use of money. For example, George Muller and John Wesley, who managed their money to meet their modest needs and used any surplus to serve others.
With this inspiration, we decided that profits made after payment of salaries and business costs would be given away to charitable causes in the UK and around the world. We originally discovered how hard it was to give in a way that met our following criteria:
- If possible, 100% of the donation to be spent on the project rather than on general expenses.
- Detailed expectations of what our money would achieve in real lives.
- Reporting back to us of the progress made in the project and what had actually been achieved.
We learned that we needed charity ‘partners’ who would meet these criteria and who provided greatest returns from our ‘investment’. We were particularly drawn to charities which were using relatively small amounts of money to initiate projects which were providing opportunity for some of the poorest people in our world. For example, the release of gifting by way of small business loans, together with the provision of the basic amenities of life in water supply and good sanitation.
We also found opportunity to support some wonderful charities supporting the poor in the UK, charities like Christians Against Poverty and Transforming Lives for Good, who were making a real difference in people’s lives.
Gradually, our scope and range of charity partners expanded to the extent that today Beyond Finance Charitable Trust, as it is now known, has a tried and tested panel of charitable causes which traverse the globe.
For Miriam and I, the giving by way of the Trust over the years has been one of the most rewarding aspects of our stewarding of the County ‘gift’. After all, doesn’t the Bible say “Give and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38) – and how we have been repaid!
Peter & Miriam Green