Why I give: Lord Edmiston

What causes do you support?
A. I believe it's what's inside of us that makes a difference, so, in 1988, I founded Christian Vision. There are lots of charities that deal with needs for food and inoculation, so we tend to focus a little more on Christian values. I have a history of seeing poverty, having previously lived in India and Africa, so I am familiar with the issues.

Q. Why are Christian values so essential for you?
A. Physical needs are very important - you can't talk to someone about values if they're struggling to survive - and there are great organisations, such as World Vision and Oxfam, that deal with those needs. But I'm trying to attack the cause. Fundamentally, I believe the world's problems begin with man. Where do all wars and malicious actions come

Q. How do you structure your giving?
A. Christian Vision has its own organisations around the world doing various things for us. I have supported other organisations, and occasionally still do, but with various degrees of success. One thing you get used to in the third world is the fact that things aren't always done exactly as you'd want. Even with the most scrupulous of people, the temptation of money can be too difficult to resist. So, we find it's better to have our own peop
from? If we can change man's values, then we can change the world people.

Q. What does the future hold for your philanthropy?
A. I initially gave Christian Vision a 50-year time span but, when we reach 30 years, we've got to start looking at various things we should be doing. This will involve exiting certain things, because, while I don't want dependency, I also don't want the whole thing to collapse the moment I die. Historically, we have done a lot ourselves but, going forward, I think we'll be collaborating with others.

Q. You have said you want to give away £300m in your lifetime. How is that progressing?
A. So far I've given away about £180m. Included in my will is an amount to make up to £300m if I happen to die before I've done it. I'm pretty sure, unless Armageddon happens, that won't happen, though.

Q. How do you ensure that your money is well spent?
A. I think it's necessary to have people you trust check the money you spend. Have I been ripped off on occasions? Yes. You have to expect it sometimes. It's like in my business. Take advertising, for instance, only about 50 per cent of what I buy hits the mark, if I'm lucky. There will always be more effective ways to do things, so at Christian Vision we are continually looking at ways we might improve.

Q. What has been your most rewarding experience?
A. Personal involvement is always rewarding. If I can visit somebody that I've personally helped then I can see the result right there and then. When you give money to someone else for them to go and do it, they get the good bit and all you do is sign the cheque!

Q. Do you receive reports of the work completed?
A. Our lives make a difference by what we do and who we touch, so we don't always know the full impact we're having. I do, however, get reports about our work. Last month, for example, we had about three million hits on our websites around the world, and in India we get 30,000 phone calls a month to our radio station. I heard recently about a woman in South America who was thinking of committing suicide but changed her mind after listening to one of our radio shows. I live for snippets of information like this because it tells me we're making a difference.

Q. What's been the least rewarding thing?
A. People letting you down when you've invested trust in them. That said, although people are sometimes a great disappointment, they are more often a great joy.

BIO / Robert Edmiston
1946 Born in New Delhi, India
1964 Starts career as a bank clerk
1974 Made finance director at Jensen Motors
1976 Jensen goes bankrupt. Uses £6,000 redundancy payment to set up International Motors
1988 Founds Christian Vision charity
2006 Sponsors first of three Grace Academy Schools in the West Midlands
2011 Created a life peer

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