United St. Saviour's Charity

Who we are

United St Saviour's Charity has supported the people and communities of Southwark for almost 500 years, through almshouses, grant-funding and community programmes that build resilience and foster connection. Over the last decade we've transformed from a traditional grant-maker into a place-based community investor, nearly doubling our housing provision and delivering Appleby Blue almshouse — a model of social housing for older people that won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2025, the UK's most prestigious architecture award, and is now shaping national policy on housing and ageing.

We are one of the largest independent funders of the borough's voluntary and community sector — directly funding up to 50 organisations at any time, and supporting a further 50 through devolved grants and partnerships. Our mission is to create a united Southwark with strong, inclusive and equal communities where everyone can thrive.

Our culture and values

We favour long-term, trust-based relationships over one-off transactions — with the communities we fund, and with each other. Our grants are flexible and empowering, designed to let organisations take the lead rather than dictate from above, and we bring that same spirit to how we work internally.

We think of ourselves as custodians of a 500-year-old organisation, while making the innovative, modern decisions that ensure we keep evolving. That means we value people who are curious, open-minded and willing to learn from lived experience, who welcome diversity of thought and background, and who aren't afraid to think big or challenge constructively. 

Being place-based matters to us. Southwark shapes everything we do, but it doesn't limit our ambition — following the success of Appleby Blue, we're increasingly sharing what we learn to influence housing and ageing policy well beyond our borough.