Biography
The Stanley and Audrey Burton Charitable Trust was created in 1960 for the benefit of education, science and the arts. In the 50+ years since the trust was established, Stanley and Audrey Burton have lent their name and support to countless causes and organisations in Yorkshire and across the UK. At the time of Stanley Burton’s passing in 1991, the estate was valued at more than £4 million. The Guardian in 2012 ranked the Stanley and Audrey Burton 1960 Charitable Trust at #668 of the top 1000 charities by donations¹ with £3.1+ million, and the Burton Family Charitable Trust at #220 with £9.7+ million.
In 1970 Stanley and Audrey offered their support for the development of an art gallery at the University of Leeds. With the Burton’s backing and generous donations of works of art from their personal collection, the University Gallery became a reality. In 2007 Audrey Burton supported a major redesign, build, and refurbishment of the original Gallery. The space is now known as the Stanely and Audrey Burton Gallery. The Burtons also made charitable contributions in offering art from their personal collection at auction. The sale of Patrick Heron’s Camellia Garden: March 1956, which Christie’s sold in 2008 for £668,450, set a world record for the artist at auction.
Audrey Burton was the founding director of the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies in the University of Leicester. She also established the Stanley and Audrey Burton Scholarships Scheme at the University of Leeds in 1993 in memory of her husband, to provide support for research students in music and fine art. In addition to her charitable giving, Audrey donated endless amounts of her time to charitable works in her home town of Harrogate. She helped to run the housing association in Starbeck, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the Mercer Art Gallery. In 2013 the new home for the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Harrogate was dedicated as the Audrey Burton House. The trusts have also made generous contributions for the development of a Media & IT Centre at Henshaws College in Harrogate, which serves students with a wide range of learning difficulties, sensory impairments and physical disabilities. In 2008 Mrs Burton was awarded an OBE for her tireless contributions to the betterment of her local community. Mrs Burton passed away in August of 2008.
