The Pilgrim Trust is a national grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

under English law. It was founded in 1930 with a two million pound grant by

Edward Harkness Edward Stephen Harkness (January 22, 1874 – January 29, 1940) was an American philanthropist. Given privately and through his family's Commonwealth Fund, Harkness' gifts to private hospitals, art museums, and educational institutions in the Nort ...

, an American philanthropist. The trust's inaugural board were

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

, Sir James Irvine, Sir

Josiah Stamp Josiah Charles Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, (21 June 1880 – 16 April 1941) was an English industrialist, economist, civil servant, statistician, writer, and banker. He was a director of the Bank of England and chairman of the London, Midland and Scot ...

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career ...

and Hugh Macmillan; its first secretary was former civil servant, Thomas Jones.

Preamble to Trust Deed

The preamble to the Trust Deed was written by

, and reads thus:

Recording Britain

In 1940 the Trust funded a scheme "Recording the changing face of Britain" established by the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime, part of the

Ministry of Labour and National Service Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

. Led by

Sir Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

, director of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, it employed artists to record the home front in Britain, running until 1943. It was motivated by a desire to record and reflect the landscape, already undergoing a period of rapid change through urbanisation and changes in agriculture and further threatened by bombing and other effects of war. Some of the sixty three artists directly commissioned included John Piper, Sir William Russell Flint, Charles Knight,

Malvina Cheek Malvina Cheek, A.R.C.A., (8 July 1915 – 22 May 2016) was a British artist, best known for her work during World War II for the Recording Britain project. During the War she was commissioned for Recording Britain to make architectural reco ...

, George Hooper,

Clifford Ellis Clifford Wilson Ellis (1907–1985) was a British printmaker, painter, designer and art teacher. Ellis is notable both for the work he did for the Recording Britain project during the Second World War and for his role in the development of art t ...

, Raymond Teague Cowern and

Rowland Hilder Rowland Frederick Hilder OBE (28 June 1905 – 21 April 1993) was an English landscape artist, and book illustrator. Early life He was born in New York to Roland and Kitty Hilder (née Fissenden). Following the outbreak of World War 1, ...

. A further thirty four artists contributed to the final total of over 1500 works. The collection was donated to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

by the Trust in 1949. Over a hundred works comprising the "Recording Scotland" part of the same scheme are held at the Museum Collections Unit,

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

The Trust today

Today, the trust makes grants of roughly 2 million pounds each year. Around 60% of these funds are given to preservation projects, particularly those aimed at preserving the fabric of architecturally or historically significant buildings, or those aimed at preserving historically interesting artifacts or documents. The trust has a particular interest in the preservation of historic churches and their contents. The remaining funds are allocated to social welfare causes, particularly projects which assist those misusing alcohol and drugs, and projects in prisons, including those that seek alternatives to custody. The trust is a principal contributor to the collaborative ''National Cataloguing Grants Scheme'' operated in conjunction with

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

Trustees

, the trustees of the Trust are: * Sir Mark Jones (chairman) * Michael Baughan * Professor Sir Colin Blakemore * Lady Riddell LVO *

Sarah Staniforth Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

CBE * Sir Alan Moses * Kevin Pakenham * John Podmore * James Fergusson * Caroline Butler * David Barrie CBE

References

{{reflist

External links

The Pilgrim Trust
Charities based in London Heritage organisations in the United Kingdom 1930 establishments in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the City of Westminster Organizations established in 1930