Charitable giving is at the heart of what the Company does. All Liverymen are asked to make a regular donation to the charitable fund and this is then managed by the Charity Committee that meets four times a year, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Second Charitable Trust.  It reviews the submissions, completing the due diligence, before making recommendations to the Court of which charities meet the criteria and how much the grant should be.

The grants given break down in to several areas:

• links to our trade and association with our liverymen
• links to the City of London
• links to medical, educational, music and children’s charities
• links to our affiliations and the armed forces

We favour small charities with low expenses where they will benefit from a limited sized grant or where a larger charity can show that the grant will be allocated to a specific project.

The Master will also nominate a charity for their year, usually one with which they have a close association.  They will organise events to raise money specifically for that cause and we also make a donation.

Alongside this the Company supports a number of City initiatives such as charities specified in the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and the Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund.