Chartered Accountants' Livery Charity

The Chartered Accountants’ Livery Charity, the philanthropic arm of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants, champions honourable practice in the financial sector through targeted philanthropy advancing education, poverty relief, and social mobility. Rooted in livery tradition, its values emphasize impactful interventions leveraging professional expertise, member engagement, and human capital alongside financial support to deliver tangible outcomes. Funding decisions prioritize causes fostering core skills like financial literacy, numeracy, literacy, and digital proficiency, believing change arises from modest investments yielding major leverage, personal involvement driving accountability, and professional skills amplifying community empowerment for disadvantaged groups.

Thematic priorities center on education for disadvantaged children and young people, including financial literacy programs like Financial Smarties for young women, numeracy and digital skills training to boost social mobility, and motor skills development via projects like GASP for at-risk youth. They support poverty alleviation through food insecurity initiatives like City Harvest addressing hunger for homeless people and families in crisis, hospitality training via Beyond Food for marginalised individuals including ex-offenders and those facing social exclusion, carer wellbeing through arts access like Create for emotional regulation and respite, and welfare for armed forces affiliates via cadet charities. Funded activities encompass scholarships enhancing employability, capacity-building for skills training and mentoring, therapeutic creative arts and outdoor activities promoting confidence, peer support groups combating isolation, early intervention preventing youth unemployment, and community-led outreach tackling food poverty, homelessness prevention, and family carer support, all with person-centred, evidence-based approaches valuing innovation and measurable skill gains.

Exclusions encompass unconnected causes lacking member involvement or professional alignment, statutory services, and non-UK registered entities without strong governance. Distinctive priorities favour City of London-linked initiatives benefiting disadvantaged children aged 5-19, young women at educational risk, carers experiencing exhaustion, homeless people seeking reintegration, ex-offenders via vocational training, and vulnerable youth through preventative education. Unique among funders, they integrate accountancy ethos demanding financial rigour, prioritize member-volunteered projects, and champion modest grants catalysing outsized impact in financial education, social exclusion prevention, and professional skills for urban disadvantaged communities.