London Stock Exchange Group Foundation renews Beyond Conflict funding

February 2025

The LSEG Foundation (London Stock Exchange Group) has agreed to make another major donation to Beyond Conflict to spend on projects supporting mental health in the Middle East region in 2025. We are immensely grateful and thank the Foundation for its belief in our work.

In addition, Beyond Conflict is delighted to announce that the LSEG Foundation CEO Luke Manning and Simon Wright, the former head and co-founder of one of Britain’s leading corporate communications consultancies serving the FTSE 100, will be joining us as strategic advisors in March 2025. Together, they will help the charity devise a strategy to grow and scale up our work.

Our new advisors

Luke and Simon said of joining BC:

“The mental health consequences of conflict are profound, with a devastating long-term effect on individuals, families and communities. It is an outcome of war that can often be overlooked. But left unaddressed, its impact perpetuates a cycle that is corrosive and divisive.”

Luke heads up the LSEG Foundation and leads the group’s community investment programme globally. He specialises in developing core business strategies with tangible commercial, reputational and social impact. Prior to his current role, Luke worked with a range of global organisations in senior leadership and consulting positions, including Thomson Reuters, Balfour Beatty, Barclays Bank, Refinitiv and Kier Group.

Simon is a seasoned entrepreneur and advisor in the creative services industry, having built several major businesses, including a communications consultancy which advised FTSE 100 companies. He works with leaders to help achieve maximum growth. In recent years he has been Chair of fast growth businesses in Europe, Africa and been Finance Director in positions in Denmark and the UK.  He has been a trustee with numerous UK charities and voted CEO of the Year, with Freedom of the City of London.

Edna Fernandes, BC Founder and Executive Director said:

“We extend a warm welcome to Luke and Simon. The Beyond Conflict team is honoured to have them join us as we seek to build on our work and take the charity to the next level.  With Luke and Simon’s world-class expertise and experience, we hope Beyond Conflict will grow in influence and impact. We all look forward to working with and learning from them both.” 

“Also, a big thank you to LSEG for this new funding which will be used to support more projects in the Middle East in 2025. As the scale of the humanitarian disaster grows daily and ripples outwards in the region, the urgency for this work remains greater than ever.”

LSEG’s latest donation follows on from its support for our 2024 projects in the Palestinian West Bank and southern Israel via our local partners Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA). These projects supported civilians on both sides of the conflict in the region as well as frontline workers. Further information on both these projects can be seen on our website, below.

Details of our new work for 2025 in the Middle East region will be announced shortly.

You can support our work in the Middle East and other parts of the world by donating on the website or offering to help. Thank you.