The Clothworkers' Company Annual Review (2025)

THE CLOTHWORKERS’ COMPANY

MASTER

The Hon Mary Ann Slim

WARDENS

Dr Lucy Rawson

Ms Joanna Dodd

Mr Hanif Virji

Mr James Langely

COURT OF ASSISTANTS

Mr John Coombe-Tennant

Miss Katharine Hirst

Mr David Hutchins

Mr Tom Ingham Clark

Mr Denis Clough

Mr Dan Jago

Mr Peter Jonas

Mr Ian Maclean MBE

Col Alastair Mathewson OBE

Mr Deepak Nambisan

Mr Alexander Nelson

Mrs Susanna O'Leary

Sir Jonathan Portal Bt

Mr Philip Portal

Mr Hugo Robinson

Dr Cordelia Rogerson

Mr Andrew Strang

Mr John Wake

Mr Andrew Wates

Mr Robert West

Mr Timothy West

Mr Andrew Yonge

HONORARY ASSISTANT

Mr Andrew Blessley

The Clothworkers’ Company

First Floor, 16 Eastcheap

London EC3M 1BD

+44 (0)20 7623 7041

CLERK TO THE COMPANY

Jocelyn Stuart-Grumbar

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT AND COMPANY GRANTS OFFICER

Emma Symington

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, PROPERTY AND INVESTMENTS

Hamesh Patel

FINANCE MANAGER

Michelle Jex-Brown

FOUNDATION DIRECTOR

Jenny North

HEAD OF COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Jessica Collins

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT

Renée LaDue

Enquiries@Clothworkers.co.uk www.Clothworkers.co.uk Like us on Facebook and LinkedIn! Instagram: Clothworkers_Co

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

MISSION, VISION & VALUES

The Clothworkers’ Company is a 500-year-old philanthropic membership organisation with roots in the textile trade. Established by Royal Charter in 1528 through the merger of The Fullers’ and Shearmen’s Companies, we were founded to promote the craft of clothworking in the City of London. We supervised the training of apprentices and protected standards of workmanship.

IMPACT REPORT

IMAGE CREDITS

Cover: Charity Governance Awards, tenth and final awards ceremony at Drapers' Hall. Kate Darkins Photography.

Inside Cover: Camira Fabrics UK.

Today, our MISSION is to inspire and empower individuals and communities through action, partnership and financial support. We are particularly focused on UK textiles, charity governance, and philanthropy. Our VISION is to build on our history and legacy of fellowship and generosity, whilst becoming increasingly responsive, adaptive to change, outward looking, and ambitious. We want our members to be proud of being a part of our livery company, and to understand their responsibility in encouraging and nurturing the next generation of Clothworkers, inspiring one another to deliver our best. This vision is founded on our VALUES, and our aspiration to be progressive, collaborative, and sustainable in all that we do, internally and externally.

The Clothworkers’ charitable giving is principally channelled through our grantmaking charity, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, established in 1977 with a significant endowment from The Company. Additionally, The Company makes an annual donation to The Foundation. In 2025, The Foundation awarded grants of approximately £10.61 million to organisations supporting people and communities facing disadvantage and marginalisation. In total, The Company donated more than £1.07 million to The Clothworkers' Foundation in 2025.

Additionally, The Clothworkers' Company directly awards grants in support of textiles and trusteeship across the UK, a selection of military affiliates, and other charitable or community causes. This publication covers our key areas of grantmaking – which amounted to more than £2.4 million (nearly £3.47 million including the donation to The Foundation) in 2025. Our Annual Review aims to illustrate what we have done to fulfil our mission, improve impact across our grantmaking activities, and uphold our values.

An annual financial summary is published in the Members' Supplement for Clothworkers.

Academic Research and Innovation

University of Leeds, LITAC (£8.9m committed for 2021-31) ...............................................................................

University of Leeds, LITAC (Scholarships; £292.5k committed for 2023-26) ...................................................

De Montfort University (Scholarships and Marketing; £100k committed for 2024-26) ................................

UAL, Central Saint Martins (BA Bursaries for 2025-27) ...........................................................................................

UKFT, University of Leeds (BSc Textile Innovation and Sustainability; £120k for 2024-30) .....................

Technical Education, Vocational Support & Craft

UKFT, Export Promotion (£255k for 2025-27) ............................................................................................................

UKFT, Skills Support (£250k for 2024-27) ...................................................................................................................

UKFT, Export Promotion (£170k for 2023-25) .............................................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Fashion Academy (2024-25) .....................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Edu4Tex (2024-25) ......................................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Digital Skills Training (2024-25) .............................................................................

QEST; Scholar, Apprentice, and Emerging Maker Awards (£132k committed for 2024-26) .........................

Dressability 2026 ....................................................................................................................................................................

The Weavers’ Company, Entry to Work Scheme .........................................................................................................

Textile Centre of Excellence, Sustainability Champions' Network (£60k committed for 2024-25) ........

The King's Foundation, Textiles Employability Courses (£90k committed for 2024-26) ............................

British Wool; Production of Yarn, Apparel Cloth, Interiors .....................................................................................

National Theatre, Costume Apprentice ..........................................................................................................................

The Kartik Foundation, ReFab Studio (Upcycling Premium Interior Textiles) ...............................................

Cockpit Arts, Clothworkers’ Award for Weavers (£66k for 2023-25) ..................................................................

Dovecot Studios, Weaving Apprenticeship Scheme (£60k for 2023-26) ............................................................

UKFT, Sustainability Conference 2025 (with the Textiles Livery Group) .........................................................

£22,000

£20,000

£10,000

Making It in Textiles (third-year textiles student conference and mill visits) .......................................................

Society of Dyers and Colourists, Malcolm the Weaver Trilogy of Books ...............................................................

Heritage and Conservation

Oxford University, Collections Teaching & Research Centre (£265k over three years) ................................

Textile Conservation Foundation, MPhil Bursary (£33k for 2024-26) ..................................................................

National Museum of Scotland, Textile Conservation Internships (£37.5k committed for 2024-26) ........

Textile Design

Bradford Textile Society Design Competition ................................................................................................................

£9,786

£1,000

£90,000

£13,775

£12,500

£5,650

£3,850

New Designers, The Clothworkers’ Company Associate Prize (Printed Textile Design Award) ................ £890,000

CHARITABLE MISSION (OTHER GRANTS)

Trusteeship

Charity Governance Awards (15 cash prizes) ...............................................................................................................

Black Talent Charter .............................................................................................................................................................

Cause4, Trustee Leadership Programme (2025) ........................................................................................................

Reach Volunteering (£45k committed for 2025-27) ...................................................................................................

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), Trustee Seminars (£26.8k committed for 2025-26) .................................

Military Affiliations

Scots Guards, Soldiers and Family Welfare programme ...........................................................................................

FANY (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps), Operations Officer Salary (£90k for 2023-25) ..........................

The Clocktower Foundation, 2025 Families Day ........................................................................................................

HMS Dauntless, Community and Wellbeing programme .......................................................................................

Army Cadet Force, 41 Cadet Detachment Dagenham (£10.5k committed for 2024-26) .................................

Other Charitable Grants

London's Air Ambulance (£70k committed for 2025-27) ........................................................................................

South House Silver Workshop Trust, Apprenticeship ..............................................................................................

Designer Bookbinders, Licentiate Scheme .....................................................................................................................

Camden School for Girls (£60k for 2023-25) ...............................................................................................................

Livery Food Initiative 2025 .................................................................................................................................................

Contemporary British Silversmiths, Skills Training Programme ...........................................................................

St Paul's Chorister (£60k committed for 2024-27) ......................................................................................................

Bishopsland Educational Trust, Bursaries for tools and raw materials ...............................................................

Goldsmiths' Craft and Design Council, Competition Prize .....................................................................................

City & Guilds Institute, (£25k committed for 2021-25) ..............................................................................................

The Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2025 ..........................................................................................................................................

Carers Trust, St Thomas' Eve Charity Appeal .................................................................................................................

The Creative Dimension Trust (£15k committed for 2025-27) ................................................................................

Fine Cell Work ...........................................................................................................................................................................

St Michael Cornhill ..................................................................................................................................................................

The Children's Magical Taxi Tour .......................................................................................................................................

The Clothworkers’ Foundation

The Company's surplus is donated to The Clothworkers’ Foundation (including match-funding for Members’ contributions to our Clothworker Members' Fund) ...........................................................................

£16,666 £15,000 £11,000 £10,000 £10,000 £10,000 £8,733 £5,000 £5,000 £3,000 £1,500 £1.07m

Please note that this grants report is intended to illustrate the breadth and diversity of our charitable giving in 2025, particularly within our key areas of interest. It is not a comprehensive list of our grantmaking or charitable giving, which may also include commitments made in previous years or smaller donations to a variety of organisations, and it may not reflect the figures reported in financial documents due to the way commitments and liabilities may be recorded in our accounts. Clothworker Members may see a financial breakdown of The Company’s income and expenditure (including ‘Mission’ costs) in the Members’ Supplement.

INDUSTRY MISSION

Over the past decade or more, The Company and, formerly, The Foundation have contributed in excess of £20 million towards textiles, including an investment of £8.9 million to co-fund the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC). Aside from our investment into LITAC (committed in 2021), grants for 'Technical Education and Vocational Support' as well as 'Heritage and Conservation' have accounted for the largest share of our distribution of funds.

The Clothworkers' Company is responsible for the direct administration of its contributions and grantmaking towards textiles (ie, the grantmaking of The Clothworkers' Foundation is separate, and directed towards different programme areas). Our expenditure in support of textiles is considered The Company's 'Industry Mission'.

Ground-breaking innovation is happening in textiles, and investment in the skills that help bring this innovation to market is required. Our Textiles

Sub-Committee is responsible for developing our grantmaking strategically in order to champion textiles and make meaningful contributions to support the industry.

TEXTILES STRATEGY

The Company aims to:

• prioritise British textiles;

• focus on cloth, rather than costume, and on the manufacture of cloth;

• direct our involvement in textile design towards talented students at higher-rated institutions, with an interest in people who are studying or possess the ability to convert ideas into a product capable of being manufactured, as well as an understanding of textile technologies;

• rigorously explore the prospective usage of equipment that we fund;

• direct our support in heritage towards cataloguing, indexing, storing, conserving, displaying and improving access to important textile collections.

Right: A delegation of Clothworker Members, including Master Mary Ann Slim and others from the Court and Textiles Sub-Committee, visi ted mills in Yorkshire. Pictured: Camira Fabrics UK.

INDUSTRY MISSION

ACADEMIC RESEARCH & INNOVATION

In 2012, we helped to establish the Clothworkers’ Centre for Textile Materials Innovation for Healthcare (CCTMIH) at the University of Leeds, with a £1.75 million anchor donation. The Centre works to develop enabling technologies based on advances in textile science and engineering. From bioactive wound dressings that are capable of speeding up healing rates in the management of diabetic ulcers, to implantable devices able to promote the regeneration of bone or skin – the application of textiles in healthcare is a rapidly developing field.

Working with nurses, orthopaedic, dental, and cardiovascular surgeons

to identify unmet needs in current clinical procedures, the CCTMIH team is developing physical prototypes that overcome the performance limitations of existing products.

The Company has been a principal supporter of the Textiles and Colour Science activities at the University of Leeds since they were established. In 2021, we made our largest-ever commitment to the university, investing £8.9 million (over 10 years) into the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC).

In addition to this capital funding, we have continued to provide bursaries for a number of postgraduate students at Leeds and beyond. In 2022, we committed an additional £292,500

to fund, for three years (through 2025) 14 undergraduate and postgraduate student bursaries (both for achievement and affordability) in the Fashion Design, Sustainable Fashion, and Textile Sustainability and Innovation programmes. In 2024, we committed to another £120,000 to fund bursaries for the BSc Textile Innovation and Sustainability programme, alongside the Textile Livery Group, through to 2030.

The Company continues to support UAL Central Saint Martins MA Material Futures programme with a bursary for the two-year postgraduate course and an award for a final-year project focused on textiles.

At the same time, we are currently committed to providing bursaries and scholarships for students at other institutions. At De Montfort University, The first Clothworkers’ Scholarships were awarded in October 2024 to four students across BA, MSc, and MA programmes in fashion and textiles. Each scholarship provided £5,000 per year to support students who would otherwise be unable to afford university. A grant of £10,000 was allocated across three years, now being used for print and digital materials.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL SUPPORT & CRAFT

Breakthrough ideas in textiles – and materials more widely – must satisfy the demands of sustainability and, where possible, bring a societal benefit for future generations. For exciting innovation to make the journey from concept to commercial success, it is important to nurture the technical skills that enable apprentices, students and trainees to succeed.

In our current strategy, a large proportion of our textiles funding is directed towards Technical Education and Vocational Support. For example, we support the Textile Centre of Excellence

(TCoE) – which continues to play a crucial role in meeting the industry’s current and future skills needs. Our grants helped TCoE invest in several important activities and projects that were not otherwise externally funded –including Edu4Tex, the Fashion Academy, and Sustainability Champions' Network. TCoE was able to engage with companies and individuals to provide training in key skills areas, raise awareness of emerging issues that will impact significantly across the sector, and provide practical support where key issues are not addressed by other agencies.

We continue to direct a large percentage of our industry funding and investment towards initiatives implemented by the UK Fashion and Textiles Association (UKFT). In 2022, we committed £170,000 (over three years) to enable UKFT to promote British textiles and build our reputation abroad. In 2025, we committed a further £255,000 over three years.

UKFT programmes promote opportunities within UK textiles, improve employability, support skills development, and facilitate on-the-job training. In addition to our own funding, Clothworkers' works alongside other livery companies – through the Textiles

Livery Group (TLG) – to support UKFT in championing British textiles and preparing the next generation of textiles leaders. At the jointly-funded annual Sustainability Conference in 2025, UKFT and TLG brought together more than 250 industry stakeholders including brands, retailers, manufacturers, researchers, innovators, policy makers, and funders to explore tangible innovations for transforming the fashion and textile industry in the UK and beyond.

Our partnership with creative incubator Cockpit Arts began in 2011 and continues to thrive. The Company has invested nearly £265,000 to date, including its current three-year commitment of £66,000 towards weaving bursaries. With the addition of Nowshin Prenon, Olive Kelly, and Carolina Estrada in 2025, we have now sponsored 44 weavers at Cockpit.

Dovecot Studios, one of the last remaining tapestry weaving studios in the UK, received its third year of support for apprentice Sophia McCaffrey, who is learning the basics of tapestry weaving. Our grant to the National Theatre supported the 15-month appointment of an Apprentice Costume Technician, Ruby Timmis, who will then go on to a three-month work placement.

INDUSTRY MISSION

We continue to co-fund The Weavers' Company Entry to Work Scheme, which offers individual grants of £7,000 per graduate to support a full-time, 12-month role. Four graduates were placed in 2025 across companies such as Holland & Sherry, Mourne Weavers, Mhairi Textiles, and Stephen Walters.

Our three-year grant to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) continues to support awards for QEST Scholars, Apprentices, and Emerging Makers. This has so far included support for kiltmakers (Andrea Chappell), embroiderers (Olga Prinku and Kayleigh Ivanov), and conservators (Ho Yan Man).

HERITAGE & CONSERVATION

The Company has been one of the foremost supporters of textile conservation in the UK for many years. Since the 1980s, we have made capital grants, funded research, and provided bursaries for students at the Centre for Textile Conservation, supporting the Centre to the tune of £1.75 million when it was at the University of Southampton, and now in Glasgow. The Clothworkers’ Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) was made possible

by our £1 million grant, establishing a centre that offered students, designers, and researchers greater access to the museum's collection. In 2024, the Centre moved to the V&A East Storehouse site, in Stratford, and became part of the V&A East Museum cultural campus.

More recently, The Company awarded £265,000 to the University of Oxford Textile Study Centre, which forms part of the university's new Collections Teaching and Research Centre (CTRC). Our grant is supporting two roles over three years following an ambitious £10 million capital project. The state-of-the-art facility opened in 2025, and is enabling two of Oxford's museums – the Ashmolean Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum – to better store, conserve, display, and educate around their world-renowned textile collections.

We continued funding the twoyear MPhil course via the Textile Conservation Foundation (and its centre at University of Glasgow). We have supported the programme for more than 40 years, and more than 50 students have benefitted from that support. Current bursary holders include Martha Strachan and Lucy Guthrie (both in their second years), as well as Eleanor Dale (first year).

TEXTILE DESIGN

The Clothworkers’ Company continued to support New Designers and the Bradford Textile Society Design Competition.

In 2025, Clothworkers Emily May (herself a past New Designers award recipient) and Claire Whelan served as judges. They bestowed our Printed Textile Design Associate Prize upon Innes Gourlay-Noor (University of Dundee).

Emily May also joined fellow Clothworker Elizabeth Ashdown to judge the Bradford Textile Society Design Competition, selecting prize recipients in first, second, and third place across six categories (including, Printed Textile Design, Knitted Fabric, Woven Fabric, Fabric Design, and Material Construction across Accessories, Fashion and/or Interiors.

Page 8: The UKFT Sustainability Conference featured 38 speakers and 27 presentations. Courtesy of UKFT and Ben Broomfield Photography.

Facing page: Ines Congratel (Nottingham Trent University) took home the woven fabric design for interior furnishings or products; a detail of her work is pictured here.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: COSTUME APPRENTICE

In April, the National Theatre (NT) welcomed HRH The Princess Royal to celebrate its Apprenticeships Scheme, which was recently recognised by the City and Guilds Foundation with a prestigious Princess Royal Training Award for widening access to careers in the creative industries. The National Theatre is the only theatre to have received this award, recognising its pioneering work.

As president of The City & Guilds of London Institute (CGLI), known as the City and Guilds Foundation, The Princess Royal is a long-standing champion of skills and vocational training.

At Clothworkers' we're incredibly proud to have supported the NT's Apprentice Costume Technician Ruby Timmis, who began her journey with the theatre in September 2025. Before starting at the National Theatre, Ruby worked part-time for a family-run business called Creatico. Ruby’s role involved using traditional craft techniques to add personalisation to leather journals, wallets, and other items. Ruby is passionate about fashion and sustainability; she upcycles and makes her own clothes and enjoys learning about different styles and eras

of fashion.

The apprenticeship will introduce Ruby to a wide range of specialist disciplines from costume maintenance, repair and alteration to laundry and dressing over 15 months. Our funding will also provided Ruby with a further three months’ work experience at the end of her apprenticeship.

During her visit, The Princess Royal toured NT's backstage workshops and its Dorfman Theatre to meet 17 of the organisations current and former apprentices, alongside the teams who support them – with Ruby among them!

Historically, entry into theatre careers often depended on unpaid internships, routes that excluded many talented individuals and limited diversity across the sector.

The National Theatre has chosen to invest in paid, structured apprenticeships, opening pathways for people from a range of backgrounds. As a result, the programme has achieved the following impact:

• 86% of apprentices complete their training;

• 90% move directly into paid employment in their field;

• wide-reaching diversity outcomes, 52% of apprentices supported are female, 41%

are from Global Majority backgrounds, and more than 10% identify as disabled.

In addition to the Princess Royal Training Award, the NT Apprenticeships Scheme was also previously selected for a special DEI Commendation in 2024, celebrating its impact in breaking down barriers to entry and addressing critical skills gaps across the creative industries.

In a sector traditionally resistant to those without higher education qualifications, the programme has successfully challenged norms –broadening access, strengthening the talent pipeline, and helping to close critical skills gaps.

The National Theatre has recruited more than 60 entry-level apprentices across 21 different departments. From carpentry to finance, props to automation, its apprentices are gaining handson paid experience, building confidence, and developing the skills that will springboard their future careers.

At a time when the UK's creative industries are facing growing skills shortages in technical theatre and production roles, the NT Skills Centre is helping to build a more resilient and sustainable future for theatre and the wider economy.

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: UPCYCLING FOR IMPACT

ReFAB Studio and Fashion-Enter Ltd / FashionCapital joined forces to launch a new series of 12 collaborative upcycling workshops. These were made possible through a £25,000 grant from The Clothworkers’ Company and co-sponsored by the Kartik Foundation. Designed to equip community tailors and aspiring makers with valuable green skills, the workshops are offering handson upskilling in sewing, product design, and sustainable making while promoting confidence and creativity.

As textile production remains a major contributor to global emissions, this programme shows how offcuts can become an opportunity, combining climate-

conscious design with humancentred impact.

Workshops are delivered across Fashion-Enter’s training spaces in London. Each session invites participants to repurpose luxurygrade reclaimed fabrics (donated by ReFAB Studio’s network of interiors partners) into beautiful lifestyle products such as cushion covers, accessories, and homeware — diverting materials from landfill while building technical ability, confidence, and wellbeing through creative making.

One participant said of the experience, ‘[The workshop] has given me the opportunity to learn how to use the sewing machine to make something I can be proud of.’

When complete, the hands-on workshops are expected to support an estimated 180 tailors and save approximately 400kg of textiles from landfill. The project also aims to produce an impact report, capturing data on wellbeing, employment, business creation, and collaboration opportunities.

Clothworker Rewati Prabhu is the Founder and Creative Director of ReFAB Studio, a social enterprise that transforms luxury fabrics destined for landfill into bespoke lifestyle products.

UKFT member Fashion-Enter Ltd (FEL) is an award-winning UKbased social enterprise that offers a wide range of ethical garment manufacturing services.

Images of the ReFAB and Fashion-Enter workshops, funded by The Clothworkers' Company.

CHARITABLE MISSION

Today, our mission is to empower individuals and communities through action, partnership, and financial support. While championing textiles is a core part of that mission, we are also focused on fostering community and making a difference through broader charitable giving.

THE CLOTHWORKERS' FOUNDATION

The Clothworkers’ Foundation is the recipient for the majority of our philanthropic funding, and serves as the primary vehicle through which we are able to drive positive impact for people and communities across the UK. In 2025, our donations to The Clothworkers' Foundation amounted to approximately £1.07 million, and The Foundation awarded £10.61 million in grants.

The Clothworkers' Company awards grants and makes donations to a variety of initiatives beyond The Foundation. These include contributions to a number of charitable causes that support our communities in the Square Mile and throughout the UK, donations or investments that protect and promote endangered craft skills, funding for our military affiliates, and other programmes that are aligned with our core values.

Some of our ‘Charitable Mission’

grant recipients are highlighted in the following pages.

LONDON AIR AMBULANCE

In 2025, we committed our first three-year grant to the London Air Ambulance, joining more than 30 other livery companies in the Square Mile to support this lifesaving charity.

Nobody expects their life to be turned upside down in an instant. Every day in London, six people are so seriously injured that they do not have time to get to hospital. The London Air Ambulance operates the capital's only air ambulance service, bringing hospital-level treatment directly to the patients who need it, where they need it. From road traffic accidents to assaults, falls from height to traumatic cardiac arrests, this is the only medical service that can get to patients in time to make a difference. As a charity, 95% of its income comes from public support.

Treating approximately five critically injured patients every day, 365 days a year, the charity estimates that major trauma incidents cause nearly £4 billion in lost economic output each year. In 2025, the medical team of doctors and paramedics supported 2,031 patients across London. The medical team only flew eight patients back

throughout the entire year – flying patients to hospital isn’t its main role on scene. Instead, it brings the hospital to the patient, carrying almost every intervention you can find in the emergency department of a hospital to the roadside. Last year, that included 360 rapid sequence intubations, 290 arterial lines, 236 blood transfusions, 24 thoracotomies (open chest surgery), one case of REBOA, and more potentially life-saving interventions performed on the scene and out of a hospital setting.

LIVERY FOOD INITIATIVE

The Clothworkers' Company has supported the Livery Food Initiative (a pan-livery partnership with charity City Harvest) since the programme began, enabling the purchase of a food delivery van and a food rescue truck. Our renewed grant of £20,000 in 2025 enabled the charity to open a new rescue and distribution centre at New Covent Garden.

It is estimated that 30% of London households – more than 2 million people – are still facing food poverty in 2025. Across the UK, 1 in 4 children endure food poverty.

City Harvest London rescues nutritious surplus food from farms, manufacturers, wholesalers, and

CHARITABLE MISSION

retailers, and delivers it, for free, to more than 130,000 people a week via organisations feeding those facing food poverty.

The charity rescues food, people, and the planet by diverting food waste, providing life-changing support to communities across London, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from waste.

City Harvest vans deliver to food banks, homeless shelters, hostels, soup kitchens, mental health charities, projects supporting the elderly and socially isolated, social pantries, community kitchens, refugee hostels, schools and

nurseries, family centres, and domestic abuse refuges in the capital.

Distributing free food for more than 1.3 million meals a month, the need continues to rise as the cost of living tightens its grip. City Harvest has sites in west, east, and south London, and a fleet of vehicles that cover the whole of the UK rescuing food.

On National Food Bank Day, 5 September 2025, 11 Members and Staff volunteered with City Harvest. Clothworkers had the opportunity to go beyond Company grantmaking and get personally involved with the fight against food poverty in London via the City Harvest Acton

warehouse. Volunteers usually undertake a variety of activities – sorting produce, separating food into categories, organising donations according to ‘best-by’ dates, and even making deliveries in one of the iconic City Harvest vans. Our day involved sorting produce like onions and mangos, redistributing donated kefir, and creating food pantry crates filled with a variety of shelf-stable pantry staples for families.

The experience was enjoyable, but physical, and extremely enlightening. City Harvest estimates that every hour of 'corporate' volunteering helps the organisation rescue

Page 16 and page 18: Clothworkers' Members and Staff at City Harvest (September 2025), celebrating World Food Day by volunteering with a Company grant recipient.

approximately 223 kg of food, deliver 530 meals, and prevent 578 kg of green house gas emissions.

THE CREATIVE DIMENSION TRUST (TCDT)

We first supported The Creative Dimension Trust (TCDT) in 2019, with a grant of £60,000 (over three years), and have continued to fund the charity. Our current grant is £15,000 (over three years). TCDT celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2025, and our funding will ensure the charity continues to thrive following this exciting milestone.

The arts-based charity supports young people, primarily from disadvantaged backgrounds, to discover and develop their interest and talent for craft skills. Demand for places at TCDT workshops continues to grow, and the charity expanded both its workshops and its school partnership this past year. It offers more than 500 workshop places, reaches more than 650 schools, and teaches approximately 10 different skills in a year.

Right: A human-sized, wearable tassel was crafted to celebrate TCDT’s tenth anniversary. Created by tutor Wendy Cushing, it featured smaller pieces made during TCDT workshops. Courtesy of The Creative Dimension Trust.

This page: Happy Baby Community takes home first prize in the Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion category in 2025.

TRUSTEESHIP

For more than two decades, we have been establishing trusteeship as a core purpose of our membership, and positioning The Clothworkers’ Company as a grantmaker and a champion for improvement in charity governance across the UK.

TRUSTEESHIP AND MEMBERS

Service is one of our primary objects as a company, both for Members and for the organisation. Clothworkers come together in friendship, giving their time and talents to serve others and to make a positive and sustained impact within our livery company, the City of London and beyond. They fill positions on our Court of Assistants (our governing body) and take on community roles – more than 36% have reported serving as trustees or school governors, and as volunteers. It is our aim to inspire and to nurture that spirit of service at all levels of our organisation. While the majority of Clothworkers may not be connected to the textiles industry by profession, we know they all have experience, expertise, and skills that can be directed towards making a difference within The Company and in their own communities.

Our flourishing collaboration with our grantee and partner Reach

Volunteering provides a platform that enables us to promote trustee vacancies to Clothworkers, which we publish directly to the Members’ Portal and highlight in our monthly e-newsletter. The Trustee Leadership Programme, which we also fund, is offered free of charge to Members interested in trusteeship who need a foundation before they join a board. For those already experienced as trustees, a number of seminars are offered by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), and sponsored by The Company, which Members are encouraged to attend whenever possible.

We also encourage Clothworkers to consider other areas of service. Members interested in volunteering as a school governor are directed to opportunities through the Livery Schools Link. Clothworkers can use their experience and time to help mentor young people through the Habs Aspire programme (managed by The Haberdashers' Company). Finally, other opportunities for onetime volunteering or fundraising are also promoted to Members as and when they arise.

ANNUAL CHARITY GOVERNANCE AWARDS

For more than a decade, we sponsored and hosted the annual Charity Governance Awards,

TRUSTEESHIP

celebrating best practice among boards and rewarding trustee leadership throughout the UK. The awards were made possible through the partnerships we forged with NPC, Prospectus and Reach Volunteering. We are grateful to the 134 Clothworker Members who participated in the Charity Governance Awards, volunteering as judges for the firstround review of submitted eligible entries over the past decade.

In June 2025, the tenth and final Charity Governance Awards ceremony was held at Drapers' Hall. The 15 charities short listed for the awards covered a diverse range of activities, including youth theatre, health support, medical research, mentoring for young people, and more. The five organisations that took home trophies and cash prizes included:

• Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Happy Baby Community

• Improving Impact in Small Charities (0-3 paid staff): Nystagmus Network

• Improving Impact in Small Charities (4-30 paid staff): Herts Vision Loss

• Challenge to Change: Candlelighters

• People in Governance: SNAPS Yorkshire CIO

In addition to the £6,000 prize (awarded as an unrestricted grant) for winners, runners-up also received £1,500 prizes. The Company also continued to offer all short-listed charities a one-year membership with the Association of Chairs (for chairs and vice chairs), and a training opportunity with Cause4 for a new or inexperienced trustee to help get them started in their new roles.

The tenth anniversary ceremony was hosted by professional emcee Tilley Milburn (and Del the Piggie), who elevated the evening with sincerity and enthusiasm. Alongside Mark Williams and Sebastian Golgiri, we were all privileged to hear about the work on diversity, inclusion, and collaboration undertaken at Heart

n Soul – one of our first Award Recipients (2016).

Across 10 years, the awards:

• Recognised excellence in 178 charities (winners and runners-up)

• Distributed approximately £376,000 in prize money (as unrestricted charitable grants)

• Offered 80 short-listed charities membership to the Association of Chairs and training opportunities for new trustees

• Reached more 1,700 unique charities across all corners of the UK – most of them small organisations with limited resources (more than 70% had

fewer than 30 staff members and more than 50% had an annual turnover below £500,000).

We know from our external fiveyear review of the awards, in 2020, that they were a unique opportunity to celebrate the importance of good charity governance, and they were perceived as a valuable way to recognise the work of charity trustees and draw wider attention to important issues faced by boards.

One runner-up from 2025, The Yard Scotland, said: 'Thank you for the extraordinary awards event you hosted in Drapers' Hall ... It was inspiring and uplifting, and an honour to be part of a celebration of such wonderful work in the UK.'

GRANTS FOR GOVERNANCE

Beyond promoting and amplifying stories of exemplary trusteeship, The Company has established itself as a significant grantmaker to support better charity governance. Working with our partners, we sponsor organisations and initiatives aimed at enhancing the capability of those already serving, increasing participation of would-be trustees, and improving diversity and inclusivity on boards.

A charity’s service users are dependent on its trustees for the leadership required to keep the organisation capable, nimble and sustainable. This means having the right breadth of talent, lived

experience, and range of skills at the table. Being a trustee is hard work and challenging, but 93% of trustees say it is immensely fulfilling. And yet, charity boards still struggle to develop policies or create environments where equity, diversity, and inclusion thrive, and to recruit the expertise, experience, and talent they need to govern effectively.

Recognising these challenges, we continue to invest in and support the Cause4 Trustee Leadership Programme. Cause4 delivers training for new or inexperienced trustees each year, in-person and virtually. In addition, we fund free, online trustee seminars through our partners at New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), which include relevant topics and expert panels.

The Company has maintained its support of the Reach Volunteering TrusteeWorks recruitment service. Despite predictions that the cost of living crisis would reduce volunteering,

In 2025, Reach celebrated its tenth anniversary and achieved a recordbreaking year, connecting 16,301 skilled professionals with 2,440 charities and social purpose groups across the UK – contributing an estimated £60 million worth of vital professional expertise to the non-profit sector.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

We continue to preserve, make accessible and develop our unique collections of archives and works of art, whilst seeking to support talent and nurture skills in selected endangered crafts.

ARCHIVES

Committed to sharing our history and archives with others, we continue to operate our responsive and well-regarded enquiries and researchers’ service, despite the challenge of our collections being held in deep storage. Archival documents may be recalled for access by visiting academics as required, and this year saw us fielding queries on subjects as diverse as Clothworker cheesemongers, punishments for disobedient apprentices, property previously owned in Islington relating to the William Lambe (London) Trust, and the influential printer and polemicist Elinor Banckes James (d. 1719). When the latter was not writing influential broadsides and pamphlets addressing social and religious concerns, she regularly supplied printed goods to The Company, including apprenticeship indentures specifically for female apprentices, as discovered by PhD student Beth DeBold.

This year, the independent

academic David Heffernan published a transcription of The Company’s court orders relating to our former Irish Estate (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 2025).

Enquiries from Staff, Members and our professional advisory team form the lion’s share of those received – as a result, our Archivists have been heavily involved researching our historic benefactors, and supplying information on heraldic motifs, historic collections, and interiors to inform the design of the seventh Clothworkers' Hall. Work has also begun in earnest on planning shelving layouts and capacities in a bespoke basement vault for The Company’s archives in the new Hall.

In 2025, we also embarked on a long-term aspiration to digitise and rebind our series of historic Wardens’ accounts books, dating from 1528, in collaboration with the National Conservation Service.

COLLECTIONS

We have been collaboratimg closely with the professional team working on the seventh hall, developing specifications for the new plate vault displays, bookbinding cases, and vitrines and alcoves for the display of silver around the ceremonial rooms so that our important collections can be shared with our membership once more. We also embarked on a comprehensive condition survey of our entire portraits collection to ensure that any necessary

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

cleaning and conservation work is undertaken in alignment with the new Hall timeline.

We've continued our commissioning programme. Work is now well underway on a substantial commission with the renowned silversmith Hamish Dobbie, who is making a jug and suite of water beakers. Inspired by natural rock forms in nature, the set will form a unique talking point at Livery Dinners and small events. Images are being kept safely under

wraps until completion!

During the year, two new bookbinding commissions also got underway. The first was with Stephen Conway of The London Surveys of Ralph Treswell (London Topographical Society, no 135, 1987), which features our Treswell Plan Book of 1612. The second was with Kaori Maki of My Town: An Artist’s Life in London by David Gentleman (Particular Books, Penguin, 2020), who previously painted an exterior view of

the last Clothworkers' Hall (c. 1990). A stunning new binding by Kate Holland – employing techniques learned on a recent QEST scholarship in France – was received at year end and featured in the Spring 2026 Clothworker magazine.

CRAFT SUPPORT

Alongside our commissioning activity, we continue to nurture talent and support skills training in our selected crafts – silver and bookbinding.

Below: Detail from the cover of David Heffernan's published transcription of our Court Minutes.

Page 29: Kate Holland's slipcase, chemise, and bookbinding.

Since 2007, we have supported Designer Bookbinders (DB), one of the foremost societies devoted to the craft of contemporary bookbinding, principally through the provision of bursaries and competition prizes.

In 2025, the first and second prizes in The Clothworkers' Company ‘Open Choice’ prize at DB’s Biennial Competition went to Matt Stockl and Ted Bennett respectively, both former apprentices of the Queen’s Bindery Apprenticeship Scheme at Windsor (which we also funded); both winning

bindings featured in the Spring 2026 Clothworker magazine. Ted has also been supported by Clothworkers’ through our funding of DB’s Licentiate Scheme. Designed to mentor and upskill promising bookbinders and expedite their path through to Fellowship of the Society, the scheme currently provides annual bursaries to a total of nine Licentiates. It funds training opportunities tailored to individual development needs. Examples of courses undertaken by Licentiates in 2025 include rough edge gilding and leather decoration with Tom McEwan, gold tooling with Tracey

Rowledge and Flora Ginn, de Gonet style bindings with Mark Cockram, end-bands with Kathy Abbott, and doublures with Kate Holland – to name just a few! Keen bibliophiles will recognise many of these names as the craftspeople responsible for many of the stunning bindings in our own bookbinding collection.

We are delighted to hear that Ted has recently achieved Fellowship status at DB. Together with Andreas Maroulis (another Licentiate and former QBAS apprentice), he recently orchestrated a Clothworker and DB collaboration for London Craft Week (May 2026).

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

In silver, we continue to fund Contemporary British Silversmiths’ skills training programme. In upskilling early- and mid-career makers, the programme aims to ‘train future trainers’ in core yet under-represented skills across contemporary silversmithing. It thereby tackles a technical skills gap now evident among younger silversmiths because of insufficient bench time provision in extant university courses.

Our long-standing support of Bishopsland Educational Trust – now firmly established in its new home at the National Trust’s Heritage and Rural Skills Centre, Buscot and Coleshill estate (Oxfordshire) – also continued, with bursaries for tools and raw materials provided to a total of 12 students (during the 2024-25 academic year). Three of these bursary holders have chosen to return for a second year to supplement their skill set.

We also continue to support Rod Kelly’s South House Silver Workshop Trust residential postgraduate scholarship scheme. Spilt between Rod’s studio in Shetland and Brett Payne's in Sheffield, a total of 11 talented silversmiths were awarded onemonth long scholarships in 2025. All received intensive training in key techniques, as well as

“Participating in the South House Silver Trust scheme significantly transformed how I view my future as a silversmith.”

Silversmith Monica Findlay

invaluable advice on exhibiting, marketing, design, and core business and accounting skills.

One of last year’s recipients, Monica Findlay, said: 'Participating in the South House Silver Trust scheme significantly transformed how I view my future as a silversmith. Despite leaving university with the goal of starting a career in silversmithing, it felt aspirational due to my limited hands-on experience with large-scale projects … After just one month in Shetland, I began to bridge the technical gaps that had previously challenged my practice, and gained the confidence to explore box-making, chasing, stick-feed soldering, and manufacturing larger-scale objects, confidently taking these skills back to my studio in Glasgow. The scholarship also widened my understanding of how the industry works as a whole, the trade, the clients, how to approach commissions.'

The vital role of the programmes

The Clothworkers’ Company supports is demonstrated in the awards scooped by bursary recipients at the prestigious Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council (GC&DC) Awards each March, fondly dubbed ‘the Oscars of jewellery and silversmithing’.

In 2025, Harry Stokes and Alewijn Slingerland – both are former Bishopsland residents, and Harry is also a South House Silver Workshop Trust scholar –were awarded joint Gold in The Clothworkers’ Company prize for hand silversmithing at the Awards. They collaborated on the Kingston chalice and patten (featured in last year’s Members’ Supplement).

As part of our support, both Harry and Alewijn were offered a period of work experience with a craftsperson that would further develop their skills in a particular area of their choosing. Harry chose to spend time with the renowned engraver Graham Saggers, and Alewijn undertook a short placement with master polisher Reg Elliot that has significantly improved his confidence in polishing larger works.

The aforementioned Monica Findlay took home a Silver prize in this category at the most recent GC&DC Awards (March 2026) for her stunning clover box – see the Members' Supplement for an update on this.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS

MILITARY AFFILIATES

We are proud to support our military affiliates, and continued to award grants to HMS Dauntless, the Scots Guards, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps, and the Army Cadet Force (41 Cadet Detachment Dagenham). We are also now affiliated with The Clocktower Foundation, a registered charity supporting serving and retired members of the UK Armed Forces. Our financial support with military affiliates primarily assists with a range of welfare activities for the service men and women, and their families, as well as grants for special projects.

Early in 2025, HMS Dauntless and her crew sailed back into the front line of Royal Navy operations, deploying for Operation Highmast. The crew spent an extended time on exercises and operations in the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, , and Pacific Ocean. Our support goes towards the HMS Dauntless Sailors' and Family Welfare and Community Support programme, which can be directed towards bursaries that subsidise travel costs for sailors from the Commonwealth or overseas territories,

and community events that demonstrate gratitude to families for their unwavering support of the crew.

We hosted the Scots Guards at Merchant Taylors' Hall in May 2025 for the Clothworkers' and Scots Guards Community Awards ceremony and luncheon, which we again sponsored.

We also awarded a grant to support the Soldiers and Family Welfare Programme. The battalion used funds to cover the costs of refreshments and supplies for soldiers at the WVRS centre and weekly coffee mornings for soldiers' partners. In addition, the grant covered a number of family initiatives, such as wedding and new-born

presentations, family days out, and family Christmas activities (including a fair where every child with a parent serving in the battalion receives a present).

The third payment to the FANY of our three-year grant – which funds a core salary cost – was made in 2025. By early May, more than 70% of the active Corps had participated in six different events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Among these, 30 FANYs took part in the military parade from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace, while others supported veterans attending a service at Westminster Abbey. Following this, 10 recruits successfully passed out into active service, and their Passing Out Parade was attended by the Lady Mayoress, Florence King, who took the salute.