Silver Lady Fund Incorporating the All Night Travelling Cafe

The Silver Lady Fund Incorporating the All Night Travelling Cafe, founded in the 1880s by the Baxter family, embodies the legacy of "Silver Lady" Miss Baxter's direct aid to the poor through silver coins, evolving into a charity blending practical support like food, clothing, and shelter with financial gifts. Its mission is to alleviate poverty's causes and effects, prioritizing dignity, direct giving, partnership, and adaptability to support homeless, unemployed, disadvantaged individuals—including ex-armed forces members with PTSD and domestic abuse survivors with children—via grants to individuals through accredited partners and to charities tackling deprivation in the UK and abroad. Run by a small, multi-generational family board of trustees with no paid staff, it sustains operations through modest donations and investments, emphasizing personal engagement and local responsiveness.

It funds emergency relief (meals, toiletries, sleeping bags, night shelters), long-term self-sufficiency (education, training, employment, healthcare, business startups), and targeted interventions like veteran counselling, mobile food vans in South East England (Brighton, Hastings, Eastbourne), and empowering Tanzanian widows. Strong focus on grassroots projects addressing homelessness, poverty, and crisis in England and Wales, with occasional international aid.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities, preferably small to medium grassroots organizations delivering direct aid; unsolicited applications are not accepted—funding occurs invite-only via trusted partners or trustee outreach, with rolling trustee meetings and no deadlines. Typical grants range £1,000–£10,000 for organizations, smaller (£200–£1,000) for individuals. Distinctive for its historic hands-on ethos, avoidance of bureaucracy, and blend of immediate practical help with sustainable change, it excludes non-aligned causes and prioritizes tangible, beneficiary-centered impact over large-scale or capital projects without clear mission fit.