We generate an income stream from our endowed assets, which funds our work tackling poverty and inequality.
Origin of our assets
Our assets derive from the philanthropy of the people of London over many years. Over the centuries the 112 parishes within the City of London received around 1,400 separate charitable gifts and bequests. Their income was to be used for the benefit of the church communities or, more often, the poor of those parishes.
By the late 19th century the City had become a financial centre and the number of potential beneficiaries in the area had fallen significantly. In 1878 a Royal Commission was appointed to review this situation, which led to the creation of two funds to administer the majority of these endowments for the benefit of the poor of London and the Church of England in London.
These two funds – the Central Fund and the City Church Fund – together made up the City Parochial Foundation and they are still managed by us.
The government provided an endowment of £10 million when it abolished the Greater London Council in 1986 and asked City Parochial Foundation to manage this new independent organisation, Trust for London.
In 2010, the Foundation and the Trust were amalgamated into one organisation to form the new Trust for London.
Annual accounts and investment policy
11 December 2023