About Us
Our History
Benefact Trust was born from the idea that things needed to be put in place to protect the vulnerable. In 1887 - following a series of fires that left parishes with ruined churches and no means of repair - Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office was established.
Founded by two MP's, three clergymen, a barrister and a clerk of the House of Lords and its directors which comprised of five clerics and five laymen, Ecclesiastical provided a reliable insurance service for parishes in times of struggle. Through a genuine need and good business acumen, profits started to accrue and the decision was taken that these should be shared through good causes.
As the scope of the business, profits and grant-making increased, it was decided in 1972 that Ecclesiastical's ownership should be transferred to a separate independent charity, hence the formation of Benefact Trust (formerly Allchurches Trust). To this day the Trust continues to award grants to good causes with all available profits from the Benefact Group and the specialist financial businesses that sit within it.
Our Impact
Discover the Difference We Make
Explore how our funding is transforming communities and changing lives across the UK and Ireland. Learn more about our mission, our partners, and the stories behind the support.
Our Work
Benefact Trust exists to make a positive difference to people's lives by funding, guiding and celebrating the work of churches and Christian charities; empowering the most vulnerable and giving people, communities and places a renewed opportunity to flourish.
We are working to change lives and communities for the long-term. It's more than supporting the repair, restoration, protection, improvement, reach and growth of places of Christian worship; our grants are designed to have a positive impact on the wider community, tackling social issues from homelessness and poverty, to climate change and cultural cohesion.
Our People
Benefact Trust is governed by a board of trustees, who not only secure our status as a company limited by guarantee - a common governance model for charities - but also give their time, expertise and care to ensure beneficiaries experience all the help and support the Trust was set up to provide.
Tim Carroll
Chair
Carrie Coombs
Trustee
David Paterson
Trustee
Denise Cockrem
Trustee
Francois-Xavier Boisseau
Trustee
Ian Moore
Trustee
Nick Sykes
Trustee
Patrick Rudden
Trustee
Paul Davis
Trustee
Sarah Brown
Trustee
Chair
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Denise is a Chartered Accountant with significant industry experience, predominantly in financial services, having held senior finance roles at EY, Barclays, RBS, RSA and Good Energy Ltd. She has helped to support sustainable, profitable growth, both organically and through M&A and to strengthen governance and oversight. Most recently she was Group CFO and Executive Director for Benefact Group, before retiring from her executive career in June 2024.
She has been a non executive director / trustee since 2012 for a number of purpose led businesses including MacIntyre Charity and Skipton Building Society. She is currently a Non Executive Director at ITM Power plc, Julius Baer International Ltd and Chairs the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committees for the broking and asset management divisions within Benefact Group. In October 2024 she was appointed Chair of MacIntyre Academy Trust, a multi-academy special education trust and a Trustee / Director of Benefact Trust.
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2025, The Very Revd Sarah Brown has decades of experience both as a church and charity leader, culminating in her current role as Dean of Hereford. She previously served as a curate at a parish in Peterborough Diocese, whilst also heading up the national charity Farm Crisis Network (an ecumenical Christian voluntary organisation since renamed Farming Community Network). In 2011, she was appointed a full-time minister, taking on the role of Rural Dean of Daventry, and in 2015 she was made an Honorary Canon of Peterborough Cathedral assuming the role of Canon Missioner in 2018.
Our dedicated team of Grant Officers plays a vital role in delivering our mission across the UK and Ireland. With deep knowledge of local communities and a passion for positive change, our Grants Team are committed to building strong relationships and helping initiatives thrive.
Amy Eastwood
Head of Grants
Helen Gray
Trust Director
Iain Hearn
Grants Administrator
Andrew Bass
Grants Officer (North of England, Scotland and Ireland)
Joanna Luck
Senior Grants Officer (London & South East)
Lisa Friel
Senior Operations and Impact Officer
Paul Playford
Senior Grants and Programmes Officer (Wales, West Midlands, South & South West)
Usman Saeed
Grants Officer (East and East Midlands)
Danielle Nash
Grants Operations Assistant
Head of Grants
Trust Director
Grants Administrator
Grants Officer (North of England, Scotland and Ireland)
Senior Grants Officer (London & South East)
Senior Operations and Impact Officer
Senior Grants and Programmes Officer (Wales, West Midlands, South & South West)
Grants Officer (East and East Midlands)
Grants Operations Assistant
Benefact Trust is underpinned by a small but dynamic team of expert individuals, each of whom plays a key role in shaping and communicating our grant programmes.
Alice Garwood
Senior Content Marketing Specialist
Sue Jenkins
Head of Communications and Marketing
Hannah Filmer-Wood
Digital and Design Specialist
Tyra Sirandula
Content Marketing Executive
Dexter Jameson
Graphic and Multimedia Designer
Senior Content Marketing Specialist
Head of Communications and Marketing
Digital and Design Specialist
Since joining the Trust in 2017, Hannah has played a pivotal role in transforming the Benefact Trust brand. She is now responsible for maintaining our brand identity as well as developing new creative across our many channels. A fine art graduate, Hannah lends her hand to multiple creative pursuits such as graphic design and podcast creation. On her role Hannah says, “It’s a pleasure to ensure the Trust is visible to the people that need our funding the most.”
Content Marketing Executive
Graphic and Multimedia Designer
Joining Benefact Trust at the beginning of 2024, Dexter will be supporting the team to execute their marketing and communications over the next year as our Graphic and Multimedia Designer. With a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Design, and more recently a Master of Arts in Service Design from the Royal College of Art, Dexter brings a fresh perspective and a host of skills to compliment the Trust’s marketing team. In Dexter’s own words, “I’m excited to support Benefact Trust’s marketing team in promoting our incredible beneficiaries and the wonderful ways they continue to help communities in need”.
Our Trust
Benefact Trust was built on a simple, but ambitious idea - to be one of the UK's most impactful Christian grant-making charities.
This idea is at the heart of everything we do, it has defined our ownership of Benefact Group - which is made up of specialist financial companies whose available profits go towards funding our charitable giving.
Report and Accounts - 2024
Our Reports & Policies
Latest Documents
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