The Company’s Charity Fund was established for general charitable purposes. Grants averaging around £90,000 each year are made to support the needy, to underprivileged children and to provide bursaries and awards to apprentices and to pupils / students at schools and institutes of higher education.
In selecting beneficiaries, preference is given to organisations with links to the Company’s metals trades or to the City of London. In line with the wishes of a major donor, the Charity Fund also supports awards to young people to encourage them into manufacturing industry and enterprise, primarily but not exclusively through the Chamberlain Enterprise Project (the Charity Fund does not, however, accept applications from individuals – grants and prizes are normally made in association with the academic and other institutions that we support).
In 2016, the Company launched a special appeal to members who raised £41,000 as part of our 350th anniversary celebrations, to present to the Scar Free Foundation for its “Safe Tea” Campaign, which is working to prevent childhood hot drink scalds and promote first aid care to parents.. Every year, up to 50,000 children are treated for burns and scalds – and some of them suffer lifelong disfigurement.
Every year since 2006/7 the Company has also given an Annual Special Award of £10,000 to a charity nominated by a Liveryman where our funds can make a real difference. We have funded a wide variety of causes in this way and achieved some very rewarding results – click Annual Special Award recipients for a list of previous recipients. Our award in 2024/25 has gone to Addiction Family Support, a charity helping families affected by substance abuse. The 2023/24 Award went to the Jamal Edwards Delve, supporting multi-generational projects in Ealing. The 2022/23 award went to Vauxhall City Farm. The 2021/22 award went to Neighbours in Poplar, which provides practical support and care for vulnerable people. The previous year’s award went to XLP for a sports project in Newham and Tower Hamlets working with 100 young people at risk of educational failure, involvement in youth violence and knife crime, and the year before that we helped the Ahoy Centre in Deptford purchase an additional Beneteau 7.5 keel boat for its work in giving opportunity for disadvantaged and at-risk young people to engage in activities and courses on the water that promote transferable life skills.
During the Covid-19 crisis, we made £10,000 of donations shared between six charities – most of which we had supported previously – to help with particular difficulties that they were addressing as a result of the pandemic.
Since the early 1990s the Company has been the largest single donor to the London Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children for its annual outings with disadvantaged children, contributing £7,500 towards the June 2023 outing.
All Liverymen are encouraged to make an annual donation and every new Liveryman makes this commitment; a collection is also taken at each Court meeting.
To see the latest report on our charity work, please look at our annual newsletter The Lanthorn, which can be found elsewhere on our site.
Past prize-winners who were in further or higher education or in work at the time of winning one of our awards or prizes are now eligible to join the Company as “Yeomen” – click here for further information.
Registered Charity No. 314211.
