The Company of Chartered Architects Trust Fund
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered no. 1202895
Why we have a Charitable Trust
All the City’s Livery Companies are required to have a Charitable Trust Fund as they obliged to support various City charities, in particular the Lord Mayor’s Appeal Fund and the Sheriffs & Recorders Fund, as a prerequisite to obtaining and maintaining their Livery status, and to dispense awards and grants to disserving individuals or organisations.
The Company’s founders set about forming a Charitable Trust fund in 1985, as one of their principal objectives. It took a considerable effort over many years for the members, with the help of generous donors, to gradually increase the fund to reach the target figure of £100,000, the minimum amount required at the time to enable the Company to petition the Court of the City’s Alderman for the Company to be granted Livery status. The £100,000 figure was finally reached in 1998, and Livery status achieved on 13th September that year. We should never forget all those who contributed to grow the fund in those formative years, and the many Company members who put in a great deal of effort towards raising the £100,000 the Company needed to achieve Livery status.
Further details of the way the Company’s Charitable Trust Fund was set up and its aims and objectives are available in our Heritage site here.
Where are we now with the Trust Fund?
The Trust Fund is managed on a day-to-day basis by its Trustees, where there is a maximum of six, one of whom acts as the Clerk, all drawn from the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects. The Fund is managed with professional help from investment managers who look after the Trust’s Investment portfolio which has grown considerably over the years by the various legacies left to the Charity by Company members, and the sound investments made. Along with regular Charitable Giving by Company members, the Charity’s investments help to provide the income stream needed for the Charity to carry out its charitable obligations and objectives. Regular updates on the Charity’s work are given at the Company’s quarterly Court meetings, and in November each year the Chairman of the Trustees gives an annual report to Common Hall held at Temple Bar, which all Company members may attend. The Charity’s work is also featured in the Company Newsletters from time to time.
The Trust Fund’s accounts are lodged each year with the Charity Commission, so accessible to all here.
What are the Principal Aims of the Company’s Charitable Trust?
* The relief of hardship generally, but in particular in relation to persons engaged in the profession of Architecture & their dependants.
* The advancement of the art and science of Architecture by assisting, for example, persons engaged, or wanting to engage in, the profession of Architecture, providing such assistance as warranted by the Trustees, and by promoting and encouraging standards of excellence by way of annual student awards/prizes etc.
* Regular support for the Lord Mayor’s and Sheriff’s charities, and the City of London Corporation generally, as required by every Livery Company.
What Awards & Charities does the Company’s Trust Fund regularly support?
Support for Schools & Colleges etc
* City of London Schools (book token prizes)
* The Lawrence King Award for excellence at Ardingly College
* Royal Academy of Arts AttRAct Scheme (for students 15-19 years old)
* Sir John Soanes Museum Educational Reach-Out scheme
* Temple Bar Trust Educational Reach-Out scheme
* Kingston University School of Art & Architecture
* London Metropolitan University School of Art & Architecture
* Ravensbourne University, London
* The Orpington Sea Cadets & the Cadet of the Year Award - first awarded in 2025
Awards & Support for Students & Apprentices
* The Peter Luscombe Art Prizes (freehand & digital categories)
* The Assael Award for Tenacity - sponsored by Assael Architecture
* The Ilkon Transport Award - sponsored by Ilkeston Contemporary Arts
* The Apprenticeship Awards
* The David Hubert Bursary - to help our student members in need of financial assistance
* The Patricia & Alastair Stewart Fund - to subsidise student members attending Company events
* WCCA Student Socials - Pizza & Beer Evenings
* Support for the City of London
* The Lord Mayor’s Appeal Fund
* The Sherrifs & Recorder Fund
Support for the Profession
* The Architects Benevolent Society
Miscellaneous
* The Historic Towns Trust - support for projects with particular educational value
* WCCA Master’s Annual Allowance for Charitable Donations
More details are contained in the Charitable Trust’s Newsletter sent to all Company members in November 2024, available here.
Testimonial
You can see that the Trust Fund regularly supports a wide range of deserving causes. One of our student members, Aaron Green, gives the following account of what it has meant to him to be receive financial assistance from the David Hubert Bursary:
"During the two years of the MArch Architecture (RIBA/ARB Part 2) course at London Metropolitan University, I was a grateful recipient of financial support from the Charitable Trust through the David Hubert Bursary. This gave me the opportunity to participate fully in field trips, research opportunities, and extracurricular activities that would otherwise have been very difficult for me to afford.
Among the opportunities made possible through the bursary were two study trips undertaken with my design studio. The first was to Paris, where we spent a week visiting the works of Le Corbusier and Bernard Huet, whilst also studying more contemporary projects by practitioners such as Tadao Ando, Bruther, and Barrault Pressacco. A second trip to Stockholm allowed me to closely study the work of Sigurd Lewerentz and Gunnar Asplund, an experience which profoundly shaped my understanding of architecture and landscape.
The bursary also enabled me to participate in a research project organised by Fundación RIA, the research arm of David Chipperfield Architects, in Galicia, where over a period of two weeks I worked alongside students, practitioners, geographers, and philosophers investigating Parc Belvís in Santiago de Compostela, culminating in an exhibition proposing a series of interventions for the neglected green space.
I believe strongly that both the study and practice of Architecture should be rooted in a deep understanding of architectural history, theory, and philosophy, and throughout my studies I dedicated myself not only to design work, but also to reading, travelling, attending lectures and exhibitions, and engaging in discussion with practitioners and academics. The support of the Charitable Trust allowed me to pursue these opportunities freely and meaningfully, helping me to develop both academically and personally.
The support I received has borne considerable fruit. In 2025 I graduated from the MArch Architecture (RIBA/ARB Part 2) course with Distinction, and was also awarded the WCCA’s Peter Luscombe Drawing Prize (Digital/Part 2). I remain incredibly grateful for the support, generosity, and encouragement shown to me by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects throughout my studies, and I am certain that both my present and future successes owe much to the opportunities made possible through the David Hubert Bursary." Aaron Green - May 2026
Future Plans of the Charitable Trust?
The Charitable Trust’s trustees are currently looking at ways to develop and enhance the support already given to appropriate causes, in particular relating to students of Architecture in need of financial assistance.
The trustees are always open to Company members suggesting appropriate causes worthy of consideration for financial support. So, if you have such a cause in mind which fits with the Trust’s aims and objectives, please do let the Clerk of the Charitable Trust know - contact details are below.
Company Members Obligations to support the Trust Fund
As a member of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, you are expected to support the Company’s Charitable Trust Fund, just like all those that have gone before you, by making either a regular monthly donation or a one-off annual donation to the Trust Fund.
For details and guidance on how to donate the link is here to the relevant part of the Membership section.
The Trustees are extremely grateful to all donations made to the Trust Fund - your giving fuels our purpose, and helps drive our enthusiasm.
