trust for london brochure

8/9/2019 Trust for London Brochure

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An introduction to Trust for London


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Who we are

Trust for London is our new name following the amalgamation of City Parochial Foundation and Trust for London.

These two funders were sister organisations, based at the same office with the same staff and Trustees.

We believe that bringing the two funds together will make us more efficient, enable us to use our capital more

flexibly, and avoid any confusion to groups seeking grants. And while we are proud of our history, we wanted

a name that better reflected our role in London in the 21st century.

Our funding priorities and the sums we distribute remain broadly the same and details of these are available

from our website.

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Our mission

We are a charitable organisation that exists to reduce poverty and inequality in London. We do this by funding

the voluntary and community sector and others, as well as by using our own expertise and knowledge to support

work that tackles poverty and its root causes.

Our values

We recognise the freedom and responsibility that spring from our endowment and our independence from

Government or vested interests. We seek to use this freedom to be creative and innovative and to take risks

in responding to new or unpopular issues. We accept our responsibility to act with integrity and transparency.

We are committed to working in an approachable and accessible way, listening to and learning from those

that we fund. We believe that commissioning research can improve understanding of the causes and effects

of poverty and inequality in London. We look to partnerships, particularly with other funders, to help us to

increase the impact of our work.

In all we do, we expect our Trustees and staff to work ethically, collaboratively and with open minds.


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Taking risks to tackle poverty and inequality

We are an independent funder and we use that freedom to take risks in supporting important and sometimes

unpopular causes and activities that government is unlikely to fund. This currently includes work addressing

forced labour, prostitution, irregular migration, faith-based child abuse and female genital mutilation.

Some of our efforts are aimed at specific groups, while other projects such as the Living Wage Campaign work

across Londons many communities.

How we are working for Londoners

Providing over 6 million a year in grants to voluntary and charitable organisations.

Commissioning research such as Londons Poverty Profile and assessing the needs

of the Latin American community in London.

Developing special initiatives to find practical solutions to problems such as the isolation of disabled people,

knife crime and domestic violence. Raising the debate and working with others on how to tackle poverty and inequality.

Providing accommodation for voluntary and community groups at our Resource Centre in Islington.

Providing support and training to the groups we fund.

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Created by Londoners generosity

Our assets derive from the philanthropy of the people of London over many years. Over the centuries the 112

parishes within the City of London received around 1,400 separate charitable gifts and bequests. Their income

was to be used for the benefit of the church communities or, more often, the poor of those parishes.

By the late 19th century the City had become a financial centre and the number of potential beneficiaries in the

area had fallen significantly. In 1878 a Royal Commission was appointed to review this situation, which led to the

creation of two funds to administer the majority of these endowments for the benefit of the poor of London and

the Church of England in London.

These two funds the Central Fund and the City Church Fund together made up the City Parochial

Foundation and they are still managed by us.

The government provided an endowment of 10 million when it abolished the Greater London Council in 1986

and asked City Parochial Foundation to manage this new organisation, Trust for London.

On 30 June 2010, the Foundation and the Trust were amalgamated into one organisation to form the new

Trust for London.

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Our work goes on

Sadly, more than a century after we were established, our work is needed as much as ever. Many Londoners

are still in poverty through poor access to housing, unemployment, lack of a living wage or limited educational

prospects.

Professor Danny Dorling, in his book Injustice: why social inequality persists (2010), revealed that the richest tenth

of Londoners have an average wealth of 933,000. This is 273 times greater than the poorest tenth.

Londons Poverty Profile, groundbreaking research commissioned by us, shows that the need for our work

remains.

For example, it highlighted that:

Inner London has the highest level of unemployment among young adults in England.

25% of primary school children and 22% of secondary school children are entitled to free school meals,

compared to national averages of 13%.

The proportion of households in London living in temporary accommodation is ten times higher than in any

other region.

www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk

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Our history: parks, polys, theatres and more

Green spaces

When we started, the idea was taking hold that London needed new open green spaces as lungs for the

metropolis. We provided funds to buy and maintain green areas. This ranged from camping sites for young

people and families, to extending Hampstead Heath and Hackney Marshes and preserving sites such as Corams

Fields. We still own open spaces and playing fields.

Polytechnics

At about the same time as the birth of our organisation, the polytechnic movement grew out of a strong public

desire to help the disadvantaged through improved access to higher education. Northampton Institute (now City

University), Northern Polytechnic (now part of London Metropolitan University), Regent Street Polytechnic (now

University of Westminster), Borough Polytechnic Institute (now London South Bank University), Morley College

and the Working Mens College all received financial support from us, at critical moments.

Chelsea Physic Garden

In the 1890s the Apothecaries Company was unable to afford the upkeep of Britains second oldest botanical

garden and recommended that it should be sold. In 1899 we took on the maintenance of the garden and

remained the Gardens Trustee until 1983.

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The Arts

The Old Vic was historically notorious for the bad behaviour of its audience. We helped it to develop into

the well-respected theatre that it is today. We also funded the rebuilding of Sadlers Wells and helped to ensure

the Whitechapel Art Gallery would be built by agreeing to provide an annual grant to cover its maintenance costs.

Innovative and unfashionable causes

Weve always been proud to embrace causes that were seen as unfashionable or groundbreaking. In the 1920s

we funded the research of William Beveridge, whose work formed the basis of the welfare state. In the 1930s

we supported inner-city settlements like Toynbee Hall, which developed one of the first Citizens Advice Bureaux.

The following decade we built Isleden House, an experiment in housing and care for older people.

In the 1950s we funded black social workers to work with immigrants, with the scheme becoming a model

for other regions. The following decade we contributed towards the construction of St Christophers Hospice,

a pioneering venture into providing care for the terminally ill. In the 1980s, we were amongst the first funders

of the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture. More recently, we established

the Evelyn Oldfield Unit and the Employability Forum, both of which support Londons refugee communities.

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What people say about us

You are an excellent organisation with a particular capability to target resources and expertise at the poorest

of Londons eight million residents. This is important, given the difficulty facing many official and governmental

bodies to reach the newest and least protected of the citys citizens.

Tony Travers, Director of the London Group, London School of Economics

You bring us together, provide training, listen and act to bring positive change for the most vulnerable Londoners.

Being heard, understood and supported by open minded people is a real remedy.

Zrinka Bralo, Executive Director, Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum

You have invested in our campaigns and strategies for change, which others told us were too risky to touch. You

have not just been a friend to us but you have also been prepared to roll up your sleeves, lead by example and

fulfil your mission statement to the letter.

Neil Jameson, Executive Director, London Citizens

You tackle poverty from a rational and fact-based approach.

Mark Demery, Head of External Relations, Greater London Authority

You have been willing to adopt unpopular causes, and conduct strategic research on issues affecting

populations in London. I really respect you and you have provided a lot of leadership to other charitable trusts

in supporting poor populations, migrant populations and so on.

Jill Rutter, Associate Fellow, Institute for Public Policy Research

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Middle StreetLondonEC1A 7PHt 020 7606 6145f 020 7600 1866

e [email protected]

www.trustforlondon.org.ukwww.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk

Charity Registration Number: 205629

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