Metropolitan Police Benevolent Fund

The Metropolitan Police Benevolent Fund is a longstanding charity dedicated to providing financial and welfare support to serving, former, and retired Metropolitan Police officers in Greater London, along with their widows, widowers, orphans, and dependants facing hardship, sickness, injury, incapacity, or distress. Rooted in merged historical police benevolent and widows' funds, formalized by trust deeds and Charity Commission schemes, it embodies core values of compassion, solidarity, and responsible stewardship. Governed by a board of senior force trustees, its vision ensures no Metropolitan Police family goes unsupported, funded primarily through voluntary contributions from serving officers rather than public appeals.

It prioritizes needs-led grants and interest-free loans for financial relief due to illness, injury (on or off duty), bereavement, or emergencies; facilitates free access to Flint House Police Rehabilitation Centre for recovery; and allocates substantial annual support—over £1.2 million—to the Metropolitan and City Police Orphans Fund for ongoing aid like monthly payments, birthdays, Christmas gifts, and university tuition for children of deceased or incapacitated officers. Additional discretionary grants go to aligned police charities for welfare needs such as mobility aids, home adaptations, or convalescence.

Eligibility is strictly limited to contributing members of the Metropolitan Police community in Greater London; officer membership via monthly payroll subscription is required, with requests channeled confidentially through welfare officers or the Police Federation via email to welfarefunds@met.police.uk. It does not accept unsolicited applications from organizations or the public.

Typical individual grants range from £1,000 to £10,000, processed on a rolling basis with rapid response and no fixed deadlines—trustee meetings approve allocations regularly. Exclusively focused on this defined policing cohort, it avoids general charities, projects, core costs, or non-London activities, distinguishing itself through direct, dignified welfare interventions and unique partnerships like Flint House and the Orphans Fund.