A principal gift was made to The British Library, in 2012, for Anthony Gormley’s sculpture “The Planets”, situated on the piazza forecourt. A further significant personal donation was made prior to that in March 1998, to endow the largest of the British Library’s new exhibition galleries at St. Pancras and provide free access to The John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library, which houses the most famous written and printed items in the world: Magna Carta, the Lindisfarne Gospels, Shakespeare’s First Folio, Handel’s Messiah, the Gutenberg Bible and the manuscripts of the Beatles. Further donations to refurbish the Gallery were made from 2005 to 2018, including lead Sponsorship and a donation towards the British Library’s exhibition ‘Mary & Elizabeth; Royal Cousins, Rival Queens’.

Significant donations over several years have been made to the Wallace Collection both through the Foundation and from Sir John Ritblat personally. This includes a gift in 2006 toward the complete refurbishment of the Oval Drawing Room, which houses Fragonard’s ‘The Swing’ and Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour.  A significant gift was made in 1999 for the new construction and establishment of The Ritblat Conservation.

Various donations have been made to the Royal Opera House over several years, which include: the personal purchase and bequest of the 22 original Picasso–Tricorne portfolio sketches to the archives, exhibited at Tate Britain in 2012; sponsorship of the revival of Romeo & Juliet at The Royal Opera House in 2015; and finally a significant donation linked to the entrance foyer restoration.

Sir John Ritblat was a major donor to the White Lodge Redevelopment Appeal in 2008 and the restoration of the library when the Royal Ballet School located to Richmond. Prior donations have been given to the Royal Ballet in support of their Summer Performances at The Royal Opera House/Linbury Theatre.

Sir John Ritblat has made a number of donations to the National Portrait Gallery over the years. This includes a donation to the Gallery in 2019 to drive improvement works to enhance the image of the Gallery and improve footfall. Prior to this, significant financial support was given in 2006 through British Land for the National Portrait Gallery to carry out lighting and refurbishment works of the building’s fine facades, including a new lighting system in part of the ground floor galleries. More recently a donation was made to the National Portrait Gallery as match funding in respect of the Inspiring People exhibition which opened in June 2023.

The Foundation has supported the Royal Academy of Music over many years. For example in 2022 it donated towards the new Susie Sainsbury Theatre.