Upholding our Charities Our Peter Jackson Charity was founded in 1707 to provide pensions for those who worked in our trades. Our Neville Hayman Charity provides funds for educational purposes with bursaries and prizes.     Guildhall School of Music & Drama     Scholarship   Ashley Riches has been given the Upholders Scholarship at GSMD.    He writes: "My time at Guildhall follows 3 years studying English at the University of Cambridge, where I sang in the choir at King's College. With the choir I have performed throughout the world and performed solos on international radio and television broadcast, including the famous services around Christmas. He has been cast as Demetrius in GSMD’s forthcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and will be appearing on the 28 th of February and the 3rd of March. Ashley Riches completes his studies at GSMD this summer and was recently accepted onto the Jette Parker Young Artist programme at the Royal Opera House. Click here for RoH article. Upholding Our Charities Few people know the work our Charity Committee does and how the charitable causes we support are selected. More details of our support for charities can be found by following the link to Upbraid. A full list of the charitable causes supported appears below. Charitable donations 2010 The Livery’s charity committee usually meets in November to decide the donations to be made for the year. The following is a list of the charitable causes to which donations were made in 2010 from the Peter Jackson Charity. List I Payment of 10 pensions List II Lord Mayor’s Charitable Appeal City of London Freemen’s School (Two school prizes) Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund St Michael’s Cornhill (the Upholders’ Church) City & Guilds of London RNLI Selsey (RNLB City of London) Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Sponsorship for 1 student) Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy. St Luke’s Hospital for Clergy List III Furniture Trades Benevolent Fund Royal Star and Garter Home SSAFA The Guards’ Museum The Not Forgotten Association The Army Benevolent Fund Combat Stress Chelmsford Sea Cadets (TS Upholder) London Sea Cadets (TS Broadsword) City of London Police Widows’ and orphans’ fund Bluebell Railway Preservation Society (Brighton Atlantic Project 2 years) St Michael’s Musical Events (1/3 chorister sponsorship 5 years) City and Guilds Institute Royal British Legion Queen Alexandra’s Hospital and Home Ironbridge Gorge Museum Millennium Tapestry Special Air Service Regiment Association St Bartholomew’s Hospital In 2010 The Neville Hayman Charity provided: London Metropolitan University Upholstery & Soft Furnishing Course - Bursaries for students - Prizes  for students studying Upholstery City of London Freemen’s School - Bursary - Student prizes The Master’s List 2008 made donations to: Central School of Ballet Barts and City of London Charity RAF Benevolent Fund Chelmsford Sea Cadets (TS Upholder) The Master's Pilgrimage   In August 2010 The then Master, Julian Squire,  accompanied for part of the way by the Master Joiner & Ceiler, completed his Pilgrimage from Puy-en-Velay to Conques on the Route de St Jacques de Compostelle to raise funds for our charities. Having walked the 131 miles, with his long-eared friend - a very large donkey called Quinto - the sponsorship monies which were so kindly pledged  amounted to just over £4,000. The Peter Jackson Charity was instituted in the 18th century for the purpose of paying up to 20 pensions to retired upholsterers.  Today we have 12 such pensioners, and nominations are made by the Warden to the Trade’s Committee.  These payments take priority, but the available surplus income is used for donations to well established City Charities and HM services charities.  10 of these are paid automatically and the Committee makes a further 12 or so donations every year. In addition to these donations is the Master’s list, where the current Master can select donations to charities of his choice up to a total of £600. In 2008 the latter included bursaries for TS Upholder, a donation to Ballet Central who danced so superbly for us at the Mansion House and a donation to support St. Bart’s following a visit there by the Master.  Other recent beneficaries have been Historic Royal Palaces where we supported the restoration of Queen Charlotte’s Throne Canopy and the recolouring of Henry VIII’s tapestries. The Neville Hayman charity is of more recent origin, and was instituted in 1995 to make bursaries to upholstery students, one for the education of the child of an upholsterer, to grant prizes to students for their work and awards to upholsterers for their achievement. This is a specialised charity for the purpose of education and the highest achievement in the upholstery craft.  Almost all of the Upholders charitable giving is committed to supporting individuals and charities with which we have long term involvment, however, this list is reviewed annually in the late autumn.   If you wish to bring to the attention of our charity trustees an individual who may qualify for a Peter Jackson Pension please write in confidence to our Warden to the Trade. For all other applications to our charity trustees please write to the Clerk. The Upholders also have close links with The Furniture Trades Benevolent Association which is a Registered Charity committed to improving the independence, health and mobility of those who have worked in the furnishing industry. Applications for this fund should be made directly via this link The Worshipful Company of Upholders of The City of London Top of Page Top of Page