The Charity for Civil Servants started life as The Civil
Service Benevolent Fund in January 1886.
Over the years a lot has changed; right up to our decision to
rename ourselves The Charity for Civil Servants in May 2012.
Key Dates
29 January 1886 - First Fund AGM
1887 - Queen Victoria becomes our first
Patron
1889 - We provide a grant to establish the
Civil Service Insurance Society
1918 - Help given to serving Civil Servants for
the first time
1929 - First woman elected onto Committee of
Management
1947 - A merger with Civil Service Fund
(formerly War Distress Fund); temporary staff allowed to apply for
help
1953 - Blatchington House is opened - our first
convalescent home
1967 - General Secretary JP Wolstenholme plays
a pivotal role in the creation of the Civil Service Retirement
Fellowship
1975 - We help to establish Crown Housing
Association
1981 - Magician Paul Daniels launches
Fund'81; a successful appeal year
1986 - Centenary Year - the Queen opens
Lammermuir House; while another appeal raises over £450,000
1997 - The Charity reluctantly agrees to part
with care homes across UK; they had become unsustainable
1999 - A Constitutional Reform process changes
our rules more substantially than at any time since 1947
2004 - Constitutional Reform concludes; all
members are given equal voting rights
2010 - Incorporation, Charity Commission
registration, streamlining of membership
21 May 2012 - We rename ourselves The Charity
for Civil Servants, making us more relevant to the people we're
here to help.