The journal Sociology of Health and Illness, currently published by Wiley-Blackwell, began in 1978, and by the early 1990s had become very successful, with the result that income was increasing every year. The Board therefore decided to develop funding programmes to disperse the journal income to researchers and scholars working in the areas of health and illness, to be used for charitable purposes, such as the advancement of scholarship in the field of the sociology of health and illness.
As such, the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness was finally inaugurated in December 1999.
This charitable Foundation is a private company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. Its registered office is Wrigleys Solicitors, 3rd Floor, 3 Wellington Place, Leeds, LS1 4AP. Malcolm Lynch of Wrigleys is the Secretary of the charity.
A royalty is paid to the Foundation by the publishers of Sociology of Health and Illness, and the Foundation in turn provides support to the journal’s editorial board to assist with the costs of editing the journal.
Much of the Foundation’s income therefore goes back into production of the journal; the remainder goes to other projects in line with the Foundation’s objectives. Details of these can be found on the Funding schemes page.