Miss E F Rathbone Charitable Trust

The Miss E F Rathbone Charitable Trust honors Eleanor Rathbone’s legacy of women’s rights, social equality, and aid to the disadvantaged through grants advancing social justice and equity in Merseyside communities. Established in 1947, its mission focuses on empowering those most in need via progressive social welfare, with core values of inclusivity, support for overlooked causes, and prudent stewardship. It drives funding by prioritizing grassroots organizations tackling unpopular needs, believing targeted partnerships with local actors foster community empowerment, lasting resilience, and systemic change through flexible, trust-based support for innovative social interventions.

It funds social welfare initiatives addressing poverty alleviation, economic deprivation, and social exclusion, with strong emphasis on women’s advancement including services for women and girls facing barriers to equality, safety, and opportunity; youth work and family support for young people and families experiencing hardship, such as after-school programs, mentoring, skills training, and employability support to combat youth unemployment and family crisis; community development projects promoting social inclusion, peer support groups, counselling, advocacy, and outreach for marginalised groups including socially isolated individuals, carers, and those in neglected circumstances; interventions for unpopular causes like domestic abuse recovery, carer support, and holistic wellbeing services through community-led, person-centred approaches, therapeutic activities, befriending, and preventative measures to build resilience, prevent isolation, and enable participation in education, employment, and civic life.

Exclusions include sectarian or religiously divisive organizations, ensuring broad inclusivity. Distinctive priorities favor Merseyside’s economically deprived urban communities, grassroots charities with lived experience leadership serving women, girls, young people aged 16-25, families in crisis, and overlooked populations like care leavers or those with complex social needs; it uniquely champions innovative, underfunded initiatives rooted in progressive reform, filling gaps for community-led social justice over mainstream-funded services.