The Charity

Education

Written in a Grocers’ Company and Christ's Hospital Deed dated 31st January 1846, six presentations in perpetuity, intended for children associated with the Company, were purchased for £10,000 (today c. £1.3 million) on the celebration and in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Company in 1846. Today, Christ’s Hospital is the UK’s leading charitable school and largest bursary charity. Through first-class education, Christ’s Hospital provides each pupil with stability and the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential.

The City & Guilds of London Art School was established in Kennington by the City & Guilds of London Institute in 1879 as an extension of the Lambeth School of Art. Originally it provided training, mainly in carving, modelling and architectural decoration, for those engaged in the art industries of the locality. Over the ensuing years, the School expanded its activities and courses and now attracts students from abroad and throughout the UK.

The City and Guilds of London Institute was founded in 1878 by 16 of the City of London's livery companies for the Advancement of Technical Education, which aimed to improve the training of craftsmen, engineering technicians, engineering technologists, and professional engineers. The two main objectives were to create a Central Institution in London and to conduct a system of qualifying examinations in technical subjects. The School continues to thrive to this day.

The City of London Freemen's School is a co-educational day and boarding school. The school was founded in 1854 by the Corporation of London, and was originally located in Brixton, London to educate orphans of the freemen of the city. It is still possible for such orphan children to be educated as "Foundationers" at the school. The School is set in Ashtead Park, Surrey, having moved from Brixton to Ashtead in 1926. Alongside excellent academic results, the innovative enrichment programme is at the heart of their commitment to developing the whole person.

The City of London School is a day school for boys in the City of London on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge. It is one of the most academically selective and successful schools in the country. The school was founded in 1834, following a bequest of land in 1442 for poor children in the City of London. The original school was established at Milk Street, moving to its present site in 1986.

City of London School for Girls is a non-denominational, independent day school, for girls aged 7 to 18, based in the London Square Mile. The School was established by the Corporation of the City of London with money from a bequest from William Ward of Brixton to provide education for girls that “would correspond, as near as may be, to the City of London School”. The school opened in Carmelite Street in 1894 and moved to the present premises in the Barbican in 1969.

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London. Established in 1880, at a disused warehouse space, moving to the Barbican Centre in 1977. The school offers exceptional undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries.

Founded in 1845, Imperial College London is the only UK university to focus entirely on science, engineering, medicine and business. In 2003 the Grocers' Company set aside £500,000 to establish an endowment fund to mark HM The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the income from which was to be used to provide scholarships to help London Universities, at this time UCL and Imperial College, to attract students of exceptional ability. Imperial has an international community, with 140 countries represented on campus.

In 2004, the state sector school Mossbourne Community Academy opened on the site formally home to Hackney Downs School (formally a Grocers’ Company School) which had closed in 1995. Mossbourne is an all-ability secondary school with the flexibility to take innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Grocers Members hold Governor places on each of the four Mossbourne affiliated schools which includes Mossbourne Victoria Park and two primary schools: Mossbourne Parkside and Mossbourne Riverside, as well, Governor places on the governing body of the Mossbourne Federation.

Alderman Sir William Laxton, Master of the Grocers’ Company eight times between 1536 and 1552 and Lord Mayor in 1544 endowed a free grammar school in his native village of Oundle in 1556. By 1922, the School had gained in reputation, with the novelists HG Wells, Arnold Bennett and Edgar Wallace sending their children and publicising the School. Today Oundle School is one of the largest co-educational boarding schools in the country.

Reed's School is an independent day and boarding school for boys from 11-18 with a co-educational Sixth Form located in Cobham, Surrey. It was founded as an orphanage, the London Orphan Asylum, in 1813 by Rev Dr Andrew Reed in the East End of London. At the heart of Reed’s School lies its Foundation, the 200 year old charity that provides educational and social opportunities for young disadvantaged people who have the potential but not the means to realise their skills and talents. As part of the work of the Foundation and the wider outreach programme offered, the School has established the Reed’s Primary and Secondary Forums. This is a network of state schools based in deprived and low income areas of London and the South East who participate in a range of academic, sporting and creative enrichment activities organised by Reed’s which aim to raise aspirations and improve the performance of young people facing hardship.

The Royal College of Art is a public research university in London, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom.  It offers postgraduate degrees in art and design to students from over 60 countries. The RCA was founded in Somerset House in 1837 as the Government School of Design.

St Paul's Cathedral School is a co-educational preparatory school for children aged four to thirteen and a residential choir school for the choristers of St Paul's Cathedral. The Grocers' Charity support a Senior Chorister who wears the medallion presented by the Company at the same time.

The Elms School was founded in 1614 by Grocer Humphrey Walwyn and is the oldest prep school still on its original site. It is now an independent, co-educational boarding school, situated in beautiful countryside in the Malvern Hills.

The Henry Box School is a secondary school located in Witney in Oxfordshire. The site was purchased in 1660 by a Grocer, Henry Box, who decided to endow a school in his hometown after becoming a successful businessman in London. The schoolhouse, which still survives, and is now a Grade II* listed building, was completed before his death in 1662. His wife, Mary Box, then completed the project using money left in his will.

University College London is one of the world's leading public research universities, founded to open up education to all on equal terms. In 2003 the Grocers' Company set aside £500,000 to establish an endowment fund to mark HM The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the income from which was to be used to provide scholarships to help London Universities, at this time UCL and Imperial College, to attract students of exceptional ability. Established in 1826 as London University by founders inspired by the radical ideas of Jeremy Bentham, UCL was the first university institution to be established in London, and the first in England to be entirely secular and to admit students regardless of their religion. It was also among the first university colleges to admit women alongside men in 1878.