In recent years, the Benevolent Trust has altered the emphasis of its work to assist education, and now sees helping state schools as a priority. The Covid pandemic demonstrated how fragile many state resources are, and left schools unable to develop their students in ways that will benefit them and their place in society.
The Trust was one of the first charities to help London schools obtain IT equipment for which funding was not otherwise available. It was possible to extend this funding to convert a room at Aldgate School – the only state school in the City of London – into a Speech and Language Room. Here students (including many for whom English is not their first language) gain skills in English and thus build confidence. This project was made possible by a single most generous donation from a Carman’s relative.