The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity

Beyond advancing the understanding of precious metals for the jewellery industry, three PhD students in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy funded by the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity have generated research findings applicable in fields as diverse as textile production and biomedical implants.

In a quiet Central London studio space, an art class is in full flow. Paint brushes and oil pastels are being drawn across paper and canvas and beautiful combinations of colour brought to life. Art is being made. And it is being made by a group of people who are largely ex-prisoners, supported through charity 2Makeit’s creative rehabilitation programmes. 

In 2017, the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity became a founding partner of the new London Museum, pledging a donation of £10m that would go towards the museum’s plans to create a spectacular new home for the history of London and its people in the beautiful and historic market buildings of Smithfield. This year, the Charity made the first of three payments honouring this pledge.

A career in the City of London can seem a daunting and perhaps unattainable prospect, particularly for those who cannot see people of their gender or socio-economic background fully represented. The Lord Mayor’s Appeal is working to change that by creating ‘A Better City for All’–one that is inclusive, healthy, skilled and fair.

Cambourne Village College, Cambridge has been awarded a Gold Medal, and Fir Vale School, Sheffield a Silver Medal, in the finals of the 2024 Goldsmiths’ Awards for Community Engagement.

For International Women's Day 2024 we spoke with former prisoner Jules Rowan about her experience with The Prison Radio Association - the world’s first national radio station for people in prison - and her role as co-host of the Life After Prison podcast, which offers advice, inspiration, information, support and entertainment to people who have experienced prison and the criminal justice system.

For International Women's Day 2023 we spoke with prison officer Ellen Larby about her experience with Unlocked Graduates - a programme that aims to end the reoffending cycle by training exceptional people as frontline prison officers.

For International Women's Day 2022 writer Fiona Thompson reflects on the vital work of Goldsmiths' Company Charity Grantees: Anawim Women's Centre, Birmingham

In November 2018, the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity announced that it would support three new PhD studentships at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy to help further the UK's position as a leader in precious metals research. Now entering the second year of their studentships, Owain Houghton at Queen’s College and Ayush Prasad at Robinson College, provide some insight into their research so far.

The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity has awarded a grant of £436,000 to fund pioneering new research into precious metals, used for jewellery and silverware through the Goldsmiths’ Company programme at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. The funding includes three new PhD studentships at Cambridge that will help develop expertise in the field.

A grant from the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity to support three new PhD studentships at Cambridge will advance research in precious metals and help develop new technical expertise. The Goldsmiths’ Company programme in precious metals research - which will be based at Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy - will build on the University’s strengths in the study of materials. The Department is one of the world’s leading centres in the study of materials and metals.