About Us

Hello from the current Trustees, we are now celebrating over 200 years that the Christopher Eden Foundation has been benefitting the young people of Beverley.

The history behind the Christopher Eden Foundation

In 1823 Christopher Eden a local coal merchant and corn factor from Beckside left the sum of £655 10s 11p (approximately £37,500 in today’s currency) in his will to the trustees of the National School in Beverley “in order to educate as many poor boys free of expense as the sum would admit of”.

Christopher Eden died on September 8th 1823. His tombstone is laid alongside the railings in St John’s Street to the south of the West door of Beverley Minster.

Christopher Eden’s legacy was passed to East Riding District Society for ‘Promoting the Education of the Poor according to the principles of the Established Church’. The society used the amount to purchase “a field of meadowland situate on the west side of Pighill Lane in the parish of St Mary’s”. This became known as the Eden Charity Field and the rents from the field were used to support the boys of St Mary’s and Minster Boys schools.

After the Education Act of 1944 the administration of the trust passed to East Riding County Council (ERCC) and it became inactive. In 1971 the Eden Charity Field was bought by the ERCC in order to build the new St Mary’s Primary School. St Mary’s infants from Lairgate, St Mary’s Boys from Gallows Lane and St Mary’s Girls from Norwood now all moved to this new primary school. The address of the new school is Eden Road – a fitting tribute to the original benefactor.

In 1974 the Trusteeship of the CE Trust was transferred from the ERCC to the new Humberside County Council (HCC). The Education Committee of that body reported that the sale of the land to the ERCC had produced substantial invested funds for the CE trust and recommended that the Charity Commission should update the Schedule to authorise the income from the trust “being applied for the benefits of schools and schoolchildren in Beverley for items and activities not normally provided by the Education Authority”.

In the event the new Schedule for the Christopher Eden Education Foundation signed in 1996 provided for five trustees two to be nominated by the Humberside and three to be co-opted.

It extended the beneficiaries to those under the age of 25, who were, or whose parents or carers were, residents of the pre-1974 Beverley Borough.

It was to provide financial help to:

  • provide outfits, clothing, tools, instruments or books to enable young people to prepare for their entry into modern life
  • provide bursaries to enable travel either in this country or abroad to pursue their education
  • enable the pursuit of music or other arts
  • promote the general education including social and physical training of the young people

The first trustees agreed that the grant should be on an annual basis and that family income should be taken into account when determining the level of help to be given.

An Amendment accepted by the Charity Commission in July 2017 provided for:

  • the nominating body to become the Organisation of Beverley and District Headteachers.
  • the number of trustees to be increased to six – two of which would be nominated and four co-opted.