About
Opportunity changes everything.
Our belief
Circumstance should not decide outcome.
Where we have the ability to make a meaningful difference, we think we should — and doing it properly matters more than doing it visibly.
The Foundation is built on one test: would this project still be worth doing if nobody knew we had funded it?
Where we work
A worldwide remit.
Project 01 is in Cameroon. Project 02 was in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We are neither an Africa-only nor a UK-only foundation.
We intend to support work wherever there is a clear need, a credible local partner and something we can see through to completion.
How we choose
Few projects. Finished properly.
We favour tangible work with a defined end point, a partner we trust and a cost we can realistically fund.
Our current fundraising focus is a single objective: £25,000 towards safe educational facilities for children in Cameroon.
Long term
Built to last decades.
The Foundation is designed to exist independently of any single business and to grow steadily over decades rather than quickly over months.
As we grow, so will our reporting. We intend to publish what we raise and what it funds, project by project.
Our story
Small start.Big ambition.
2023
The beginning
The Foundation was established as The Zappie Foundation, created by Jamie Pidgley to direct part of what business had made possible towards other people.
Its first major fundraising evening was a charity boxing event in November 2023, in which colleagues trained for months and competed in front of a paying audience.
2024 — 2025
Events, and a habit of showing up
Coupe de Zap followed in May 2024, raising more than £1,500. A team member ran the Budapest Marathon that October. Coupe de Zap returned in May 2025 and raised approximately £1,100.
Those events were held as The Zappie Foundation, and we have no interest in editing that out.
Projects
Cameroon, and Harrogate
Project 01 is our first international ambition: £25,000 towards safe educational facilities in Cameroon. £3,435 has been raised so far through 87 donations.
Project 02 was closer to home. In memory of James Brady, the Foundation supported an initiative that resulted in a publicly accessible defibrillator being installed in Harrogate town centre. It is complete, and it is permanent.
2026
Becoming The Boreal Foundation
In 2026, The Zappie Foundation became The Boreal Foundation.
The change reflects ambition rather than direction: a foundation intended to operate independently, over decades, supporting projects around the world.
Placeholder portrait — to be replaced.
Founder
"I want to look back in ten or twenty years and see dozens of projects that started because we decided to begin now."
— Jamie Pidgley, Founder
Jamie Pidgley is a Yorkshire-based entrepreneur and the founder of the Boreal Group. He established the Foundation — first as The Zappie Foundation — with the intention of building something that outlasts any single business.
The Boreal Foundation is not currently registered with the Charity Commission.
We'veonly juststarted.
Our current mission is raising £25,000 towards our Cameroon education project.
Current total: £3,435. 87 people have already supported it.
Our existing JustGiving campaign was originally launched under The Zappie Foundation, the former name of The Boreal Foundation.