About us
Who we are
We’re a grantmaking trust based in the north of the London Borough of Camden. Our mission is to reduce poverty and improve physical and mental health within our area of benefit.
We do this by providing grants to organisations supporting people in our area of benefit. We also provide one-off small grants to help families and individuals, when residents are referred to us.
Our history
We’ve existed in our current form since 1971 – but our history is much older than that. Our origins go back to the 1600s when two separate charities were established: the Campden Charity, established by Lady Campden to benefit the poor and needy of the parish of Hampstead, and the Wells Charity, established by the Earl of Gainsborough.
These charities merged in the 1880s, to become the Wells and Campden Charity. In 1971, they merged with a group of other charities based in Hampstead to form the Hampstead Wells and Campden Trust. You can learn more about the history of the Trust in "For the Poor of Hampstead Forever - 300 years of the Hampstead Wells Trust" by Christopher Wade through the Camden History Society website.