A tribute to Jean Oglesby, 1939 – 2025
It is with great sadness that we share the news that the co-founder of the Oglesby Charitable Trust, Jean Oglesby, has died, peacefully at home, surrounded by her close family.
Jean was from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, where she met the late Michael Oglesby, founder and long-time CEO of Bruntwood. She was married to Michael for 55 years, until his death in 2019, and together they had two children, and five grandchildren.
Jean and Michael established the Oglesby Charitable Trust in 1993, which Jean administered singlehandedly, from the family home, until 2015. Through the Trust and other channels, Jean and Michael’s engagement with a diverse range of causes throughout their lives resulted in significant achievements for people and communities in Greater Manchester and the surrounding area: research into rare cancers, residential accommodation for young people with complex needs, study bursaries for a generation of world-class musicians and of course significant investment in regional theatre. Jean was also mindful of the more hidden needs of people and organisations: individuals and families facing hardship, under-funded schools, a student needing an interview suit, volunteers needing encouragement, and young people needing help to fund their weddings.
Jean served on the Board of the Royal Exchange Theatre from 2008 – 2019, having supported the theatre since it opened. She was a passionate advocate for the arts throughout her life, and within her role at the OCT made a warm impression on cast members and crew, playwrights, musicians and artists across genres. She was hugely knowledgeable, and curious about their work and their lives, and their roles in the sector she was so passionate about.
Jean had a great love of music, whether encouraging children in Everton and Anfield on the In Harmony programme at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, or supporting post-graduate musicians at the Royal Northern College of Music – of which she was made an Honorary Member in December 2014. She was a loyal audience member of these, and of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, and had a long standing relationship with Chetham’s School of Music, where she served as Feoffee from 2020 – 2024. Jean gained great pleasure from these engagements, playing a significant part in the great cultural institutions in our region.
Jean and Michael were awarded the Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy in 2011 and they were inaugurated into the Langworthy Circle of Philanthropists at Manchester University in March 2015. Jean was made a CBE in the New Year’s Honours list 2016 for Services to Philanthropy in the North West.
Jean was loved by those in our sector who met her, for her warmth and her down-to-earth, direct nature; when administrating the Trust, she was known for answering each and every piece of correspondence, and reading, and filing away, news articles celebrating the achievements of funded organisations. She was hugely respected for her commitment to the causes she supported and which she made her life’s work for so many years. Jean was a remarkable, generous figure in the world of philanthropy, who described herself as ‘Housewife’ when it came to OCT paperwork; like her daughter Kate, she didn’t seek out plaudits for her actions but seemed to see her approach simply as ‘doing the right thing’.
Whilst perhaps a more private person than her husband, Jean played a vitally supportive part in Michael’s charitable and civic life as well as her own, and her legacy will at least in part, be entwined with his. She too was both compassionate and clear-eyed about impact, and shared Michael’s ambition for positive change at scale.
Jean’s vision for the Trust was for it to make a meaningful difference in the communities in which she and her family had made their lives. Her generosity and commitment means that during her lifetime, the Trust has contributed over £30m to this region, through relationships with between 50 – 70 organisations each year.
Jean’s values and her spirit will live on through her many achievements and through the work the OCT is engaged in today. She will remain a role model within the world of philanthropy in our region, but however we were lucky enough to know Jean, she will be remembered with great appreciation and affection and will be hugely missed by all of us.
The photograph accompanying this tribute is included with the kind permission of the Royal Exchange Theatre. It is taken from a film made in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, in July 2025, which can be found here:
