CENTRIS was established in 1988.

Its mission is to support innovative social policy and practice.

Its method is to work with partners active in the field to develop solutions to social issues, through a mixture of research and innovatory initiatives.
CENTRIS' constitution describes charitable objects for the benefit of the public to advance education, to promote the relief of sickness and the preservation of health and to promote the relief of poverty, in particular by promoting research into the role of individual self awareness, self development and personal responsibility in these fields, and the dissemination of the useful results of that research. Centris has three main areas of activity:

1. Civil Society
Over the past few years, CENTRIS has created a baseline for civil society development work in the UK by contributing to the literature, changing the climate by influencing policy, and working on increasing resource allocation to the sector. In 2011 Centris started working with the Webb Memorial Trust to help develop its 'Poverty and Inequality' programme. This is a 5 year project which will seek to ascertain what a good society free from poverty would look like in the UK. It also hopes to leave a lasting legacy in memory of Beatrice Webb.

2. Families - including Fathers and Masculinity
CENTRIS authored a book entitled A Question of Balance for Fathers Plus, a project of Children North East that aims to involve men in child-rearing by ensuring that the needs of men are met in service delivery.  Latterly Centris has helped in a study of child poverty in the north east of England and in November 2011 Centris facilitated the Children North East Conference on Child Poverty held in Newcastle.

3. Social Justice and Philanthropy

A key part of CENTRIS' work in this area has been research into the effectiveness of funding in creating social justice and Centris has worked closely with the Ford Foundation in the USA.

CENTRIS is also helping Foundations for Peace, a network of community and independent foundations working in divided societies. The aim of the Foundations for Peace network is to support each foundation's work in its own community, and to enable foundations to work collaboratively, and together create a platform for the common aims of social justice, inclusion and peacebuilding.

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CURRENT PROJECTS

Centris continues to work alongside the FORD Foundation on their Social Justice programme and also with the Foundations for Peace movement around the world.
This work is expected to continue to the end of 2013.

Centris is working with the Global Fund for Community Foundations to help them evaluate their capacity and assist the organisation's strategic development.
This work will continue throughout 2012.

Centris is working with the Beatrice Webb Memorial Trust on issues of poverty and civil society.This is expected to continue throughout 2012 and into a long term 5-year structured programme. More details can be found on the Webb Memorial Trust's website www.webbmemorialtrust.org.uk