Queen Elizabeth Trust launched to strengthen communities across the UK
Howard Lake | 20 April 2026 | News
A new UK-wide charity, the Queen Elizabeth Trust, has been launched to help strengthen communities across the country and create a living legacy to Queen Elizabeth II.
The new charity was announced on the centenary of her late majesty’s birth.
It has been established with a £40 million government endowment and will focus on restoring and sustaining shared spaces that bring people together. Projects could include the transformation of unused buildings, green spaces and neighbourhood hubs, alongside support for the skills and training needed to run local events.
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The King will act as Royal Patron. The Trust’s founding chair, Sir Damon Buffini, said that the charity aims to revive spaces where people of all ages and backgrounds can connect and belong.
The initiative follows more than two years of engagement by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee with community groups, charities and leaders across the UK, and further details on funding criteria are expected in the coming months.
Currently there is a simple holding message on the Queen Elizabeth Trust’s website, announcing only the launch date.
Lord Janvrin, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, said:
“I hope this new charity will encourage people to remember the life and service of the late Queen by recognising the importance she attached to strengthening that sense of engagement and belonging amongst local communities”.
A similar process on establishing an appropriate charitable trust was undertaken following the death of HRH Princess of Wales.
Three memorials to Her Majesty the Queen
The Trust is one of three memorial projects, alongside a national memorial in St James’s Park and a digital memorial.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.