The Pilgrim Trust

Edward Stephen Harkness founded The Pilgrim Trust in 1930 with an endowment of just over £2 million.

Inspired by the role Great Britain played in the First World War, Harkness wished the funds to be used for some of the UK’s ‘more urgent needs’. Such a brief would be unusual today but over the years it has given the Trustees the flexibility to fund charities that address such ‘urgent needs’ or the UK’s future wellbeing. Currently the Pilgrim Trust has two grant-making programmes that focus on preserving the UK’s heritage and catalysing social change through which it awards grants of circa £3 million a year.