Graham’s story

Graham M. Dacre, CBE is the founder of the Graham Dacre Charitable Foundation, formerly The Lind Trust.

A hugely successful businessman, Graham has focussed years of time, energy, passion and money into supporting causes that help young people have the best possible start in life.

Having started by washing cars, he ended up as a poor relation in the Sunday Times Rich List!

He established and built the Lind motor business into one of the UK’s largest and most respected car dealership groups - selling it in 2006 for £100m+. 

Alongside this, he has developed and retains a substantial commercially let property portfolio.

Graham moved to his beloved Norfolk in 1970 from Maidstone to work as a computer operator.

In 1980 he started selling buying and selling used cars and finding that he had quite the talent in 1992 he acquired the struggling Norwich BMW. Over the next 14 years he built the Lind Automotive Group, acquiring or establishing dealerships between Norwich and Gatwick.

By 2006, it had almost 1000 employees, its annual turnover had grown to £500m, and he sold the business for more than £100m.

An important part of Graham’s story is his faith. Having been invited on many occasions to go to church by a long-standing customer, he finally agreed in the early 1970s. This was a pivotal moment and became the time at which he became a devout Christian.

Despite coming from humble beginnings, Graham has always set his sights on being able to help young people if his position ever allowed. Since that became a reality, he has invested and supported causes that support young people and Norfolk.

In 1980 he established the Cross House Trust, which was re-named the Lind Trust in 1989 and has subsequently injected over £40 million into charities and community projects with the goal of helping young people thrive.

One of his earliest charitable successes was the opening of the Open Youth Venue in Norwich – a grade 2 listed building and a £12m investment via the Lind Trust, that became home to recording and dance studios, media workshops, free internet access and a drop-in service. The project received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2010 and in 2013 he was made a CBE in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In 2014 he received an honorary doctorate from Logos International for humane letters.

In 2013, he spent a number of months in hospital with a slipped disc and an ipad. After four months of going virtually around the world, he penned stories for his grandchildren. He gave the 50 chapters to a ghost writer who turned 17 into a book. His autobiography, ‘So Much From So Little’ was published in 2016.

In 2023 he formed the Graham Dacre Charitable Foundation to take over from the Lind Trust – with a clear vision to help young people have the best possible starts in life. This, he hopes, will be his legacy.

He blames his success on finding favour with God and man, by believing the impossible is ordinarily achievable and by surrounding himself with those more able, more experienced and more intelligent. "That", he says, "wasn't difficult."