| Collection | Shirley Foundation Collection |
| Description | Each project file usually contains a cover sheet showing the title of the recipient organisation or the project and the dates that payments were made. Further contents include extracts from the relevant page of the trustee minutes (often highlighted for the specific project referred to), correspondence relating to the project, print outs from the ledger/accounts, and other paperwork relating to each project.
The folders are arranged per project reflecting the order and style they were originally filed. There is usually one folder for each project proposal, but some of the larger projects have multiple files. Not all proposals were funded and the catalogue record will state whether the project was funded or declined. Some project proposals have no paperwork at all – and are noted with just one summary sheet or a cover sheet, and these are located in one folder at the end of the series, along with a file for special projects that were not allocated a reference number.
Each project was allocated a reference number that described the year in which an application was received and then a consecutive number for projects in that year. As there are sometimes multiple files for one project, the references have been noted in the title rather than as a catalogue reference number.
Definition of ‘Projects’ and ‘Grants’ found in file UKPA/SHIR/4/100 One-Off Grants – document about Lord Benioff grant: “Projects are activities in furtherance of the foundations objects over which control and management remain with the foundation. They tend to be long-term. Grants are donations to other institutions. (There may be conditions attached).”
A full list of project files in the collection along with a summary of the projects are stored in the first project box.
The project files contains material that charts approaches to autism from the 1990s through to 2018, and many of the early files contain material that may be distressing. Early on in this series, people were still looking for a set of biological causes and cures, and Dame Stephanie Shirley, through The Shirley Foundation, funded projects with that focus. As time has progressed, it has been recognised that autism is not a medical condition with treatments that lead to a cure, but a developmental disability, and people with autism can use treatments to help them live full lives and manage their disability. Material in The Shirley Foundation Collection can demonstrate the change of focus from looking for cures to supporting people managing their autism, but the earlier material is indicative of approaches at the time, rather than how it would be approached today. |