The Henry Smith Charity is an independent grant making trust. We aim to bring about lasting change to people’s lives helping them benefit from and contribute to society. We achieve this by funding organisations that work with people to reduce social and economic disadvantage.
The Charity was founded in 1628 by Henry Smith, a businessman working in the City of London. Since then, we have honoured the spirit of Henry Smith’s will, working to combat disadvantage and meet the challenges and opportunities facing people in need throughout the UK. Today, The Henry Smith Charity is amongst the largest independent grant makers in the UK, distributing £64.9 million in 2022.
Our grant holders are at the core of our mission and work. For us, achieving results depends on their work and, as a grant making trust, we can only be as effective as the organisations that we fund.
Our network of 50+ Volunteer Visitors play a vital role in visiting organisations who have successfully reached the second stage of applying for funding through our two main grant programmes, Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities.
Our Grant Funding Strategy includes our values and principles as an organisation and funding priorities for our two largest grant programmes Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities.
