The Pilgrim Trust has been funding good causes for 95 years. On the 23 September 2025 we came together for an evening of celebration.
It was great to be with so many friends and kindred spirits in the beautiful Georgian Grade II* listed building in the heart of Bloomsbury, home to the Art Workers Guild, to celebrate our 95th birthday. We are well known for our heritage work, but in accordance with the wishes of our visionary founder, American philanthropist Edward Harkness, we also fund many social change issues too.
Director, Sue Bowers, spoke about the Trust’s early guiding principles and picked out some highlights from our history including: funding for the first neighbourhood Law Centre in the UK in the 1970s; supporting societies safeguarding development of large swathes of the countryside; funding seminal organisations, including the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts in the 1940s – the predecessor of the Arts Council. More recently in 2015 we were one of the original trusts and foundations helping to set up Agenda Alliance to advocate for a holistic approach to women and girls at risk. She also spoke about the importance of collaboration to increase impact.
It is a diverse portfolio but, as directed by the founder, united in the desire to help Britain with some of its urgent needs and to promote the wellbeing of its people. These principles still inform all that we do today.
We are often asked, ‘Why are you called the Pilgrim Trust?’ If you want to find out why and learn more about our history – you can read the full text of Sue Bowers’ speech here
