Merchant Taylors' Company Charities Fund

They fund poverty relief including food distribution and breakfast programmes for school children at risk, domestic abuse recovery services such as safe housing and counselling for women in crisis, homelessness prevention through outreach and support for young people aged 16-25 facing housing instability, educational equity with devices for remote learning for disadvantaged pupils, therapeutic music activities for children with learning disabilities, and elderly care addressing isolation, ill health, and financial hardship. Supported interventions include community-led day services, peer support groups, early intervention for families in poverty, SEND education enhancements in local schools, and crisis response. They prioritise beneficiaries in high-deprivation urban communities, specifically in Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets.

Registered charities and community groups based in or serving high-deprivation urban communities, particularly in Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets, are eligible. They prioritise smaller grassroots organisations with direct local impact and sustained relationships. Beneficiaries include people facing old age isolation, disability barriers, youth homelessness, family poverty, or abuse trauma. There is no religious restriction.

The funder excludes capital projects, as their focus is on direct service delivery and community-led initiatives rather than infrastructure. They also do not support the running costs of older persons’ accommodation, and they avoid funding activities that promote religious or political causes, consistent with their secular and non-partisan approach. These exclusions reflect their preference for grassroots, evidence-based interventions that tackle root causes of disadvantage.

The funder welcomes unsolicited applications and favours sustained relationships with grassroots groups, providing capacity-aligned support. Their approach emphasises close stewardship and member-driven volunteering to empower local charities, with a preference for evidence-based interventions that foster resilience and inclusion. They prioritise smaller organisations demonstrating direct local impact over transactional aid.