The Goldsmiths' Company Charity helps to address cost-of-living crisis
Image courtesy of The Goldsmiths’ Centre
£197,380 has been awarded by The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity to two charities, Goldsmiths’ Company Apprentices and existing charitable partners to help provide support through the cost-of-living crisis.
The Charity presented a cheque for £40,000 to the Benevolent Society – a charity that supports those who have worked across jewellery and within the allied trades – at the annual Benevolent Society Ball in Birmingham.
Three grants of £40,000 will be gifted to the Silversmith and Jeweller’s Charity’s hardship fund.
Goldsmiths’ Company apprentices were also given individual grants of £350.
The donations were made from the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity’s Covid-19 Fund, which was established to support jewellers, silversmiths and those working in the allied industries during the pandemic.
Alongside this, an addition £29,330 was granted to Goldsmiths' Company Charity partners.
Wednesday 8 February 2023 - The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity has issued multiple cost-of-living grants to charities and apprentices within the trade to support them during this difficult period, using the remainder of the funds from its Covid-19 Fund.
Originally created to address the impact of the pandemic, the Covid-19 Fund provided financial support to individuals working in the jewellery, silversmithing and allied trades to help them through a period of hardship and help sustain the craft, skills and future of the industry during what was an unprecedented period in most people’s lifetimes. 750 people received grants of up to £1,500.
Through supporting the Benevolent Society, the Silversmith and Jeweller’s Charity and the Goldsmiths’ Company apprentices, the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity is using the remaining monies from the Covid-19 Fund to continue to help those within the trade who are in need of a bit of extra support – an objective originally outlined in the first pages of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s earliest minute book in 1334.
Michelle O’Brien, Head of Charitable Giving at the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity, said:
“We know that the fall in ‘real’ disposable income has impacted many individuals and families over the last year and is only going to get worse in the short term. The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity is pleased that we can support The Benevolent Society and Silversmiths’ & Jewellers Charity through grant funding to help them continue their essential work in supporting those in our trade who need it most with immediate financial assistance.”
About the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity
The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity is a grant funder that was founded in the late nineteenth century with investment income on assets given by the Goldsmiths’ Company over the centuries. Its Board of Trustees is made up of members of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Court of Assistants (equivalent to a board of non-executive directors).
The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity is focused on improving the life chances of people and communities. Today it does thisby awarding grants across four priority areas - support for our trade & craft; support for development of technical and vocational skills; support for activities in the City of London and at national institutions; support for activities that improve life chances, currently in the criminal justice sector, and through literacy, numeracy and oracy interventions at early years and primary age.