London Catalyst was established in 1873 when the Lord Mayor of London invited religious and hospital leaders to a meeting at the Mansion House. Appalled by the effect of inadequate housing and sanitation on the health of the poor, they decided that on one day each year, in places of worship throughout Greater London, a collection should be made towards improving the health of Londoners.
Founding members included Florence Nightingale (nurse and medical pioneer), Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (first British woman to qualify as a doctor), Baroness Burdett-Coutts (philanthropist and heiress to the Coutts bank) and William Henry Smith MP (philanthropist and founder of WH Smith).
Queen Victoria became Patron of the Fund in 1874 and the royal patronage has continued to this day. London Catalyst is privileged to have had the late Queen Elizabeth as Patron. In 2016 we were proud to support ‘The Patron’s Lunch’, a celebration of Her Majesty’s patronage of more than 600 charities and organisations in the UK and across the Commonwealth on the occasion of her 90th birthday.
Our memorandum of association requires the charity to have two trustees from religious denominations and one representing the medical or social work profession. The charity maintains its historical link to London’s faith communities, social work and medical professions through its membership.
The charity has been in existence for nearly 150 years and its history is interwoven with the emergence of the modern welfare state.
For a fascinating insight into the social conditions of Victorian London you may wish to read: ‘A reflection on sickness and poverty in London in the late 19th century ‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times’ – By Beverley Cook, Curator of Social History at the Museum of London. A look back at sickness and poverty in Victorian London.
A Victorian philanthropist
The Fund’s great benefactor was undoubtedly George Herring (1833–1906) who donated throughout his life and in his will a cumulative £1.3 million (c£25 million today). He was a self made man with exceptional powers of calculation who, legend has it, began as a carver in a boiled – beef shop. He found work as a turf commission agent before he left the racing world for high finance in the city where he made his fortune. An eminent philanthropist of his day he was a modest man who eschewed all public honours.
George Herring obituary as reported in ‘The Turf’, November 1906
Reports
Here you can find our most recent Annual Report & Accounts and a review of 140 years of grant-making.
Grants Review 2019
Annual Report
& Accounts
140 years of
grant making
Charity staff
Director & Company Secretary: Victor Willmott
Grants Administrator: Jessica Stephenson Clarke
Board of Directors (Trustees)
Dr Sarah Divall, Chair
Mark Palframan
Philippe Granger
Emma Whitby
Danny Daly
Joan Major
Nicholas Durack
Ruby Sethna
Alice Groux
Sector contacts and networks
London Catalyst is a member of the Association of Charitable Foundations – the UK-wide membership organisation for grant-making trusts and foundations – and London Funders.
The Charity Commission registers and regulates charities and provides information about registered charities in England and Wales.