Who We Are

The Provision Trade Benevolent Institution is a charity providing financial help to people (or their surviving widows/widowers) who have worked in the Provision Trade and find themselves in financially distressed circumstances.

The Institution is governed by trustees who meet four times a year with the secretary and welfare visitor to discuss and award grants to applicants.  It is a registered charity (No. 209173).

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Our History

The PTBI was founded in the reign of William the Fourth, one of several such trade benevolent funds formed after the Industrial Revolution.

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The story began on 29 October 1835 when some interested parties met at Anderton’s Coffee House in Fleet Street. They set up a committee of nine to draft rules for a benevolent institution and present a report and recommendations to all members of the Trade. The first general meeting was held on 12 January 1836 with the Lord Mayor of London, Alderman William Taylor Copeland presiding. Over 600 members of the trade were present and donations totalling over £2,000 were reported to the meeting (equivalent to approx. £128,000 today!). The new charity was launched under the name 'The Cheesemonger's Benevolent Institution'. The present name which reflected more accurately the full scope of its activities was adopted in 1912. The first beneficiaries were elected in February 1836, with four men each receiving £24 per annum and two women £16. In the last 25 years, PTBI has given out over £1 million to beneficiaries.