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Queen Elizabeth smiles while greeting guests at an outdoor event, wearing a pink and green floral dress and pearls.
Members of The Ubele Initiative gathered outside a timber-clad community building on a sunny day, waving and posing around a table set with two celebration cakes.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II views an art class at the Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley, West Sussex.
Around 40 young people from My Life My Say gathered for a group portrait outside a timber-clad building, standing on a brick courtyard.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh (not in picture)talks to eight year old Nathan Dakoh during her visit to Chadwell Heath Community Centre where she met with local residents of all ages who use the facility.

The Queen Elizabeth Trust is a new UK-wide charity that supports communities to restore and sustain shared spaces that bring people together across generations from all walks of life.

Inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s belief that “everyone is our neighbour” the Trust works hand in hand with communities, providing funding and targeted support to create spaces that will thrive long into the future.

Members of The Ubele Initiative gathered outside a timber-clad community building on a sunny day, waving and posing around a table set with two celebration cakes.
Communities need adequate, sustained resources – well-maintained spaces, accessible services, fair funding and genuine decision-making power – so they can flourish, address disparities, and deliver lasting social and economic benefit for everyone.
Yvonne Field OBE of The Ubele Initiative, smiling at the camera in a sunlit outdoor portrait.

Yvonne Field OBE from The Ubele Initiative is one of many leaders we spoke to about how the Queen Elizabeth Trust could help local communities to thrive.

Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour. The need to look after a fellow human being is far more important than any cultural or religious differences.
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth smiles while greeting guests at an outdoor event, wearing a pink and green floral dress and pearls.

Our Story

The Queen Elizabeth Trust is an independent charity founded in 2026; it is one of three projects dedicated to honouring the life and service of Queen Elizabeth.

The focus of this new charity has been shaped through conversations with individuals and organisations across the UK – from community groups and charities to local leaders, policymakers and national partners, government and public sector experts across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, arm’s-length bodies and major legacy programmes – bringing together a rich and diverse range of perspectives.

Together, these conversations have helped create a charity dedicated to the regeneration of shared spaces: one that reflects the ambition, diversity and strength of communities across the four nations. What we have heard is clear: communities need spaces to call their own, and the skills, resources and support to help them thrive, now and in the future.

The Trust will work hand in hand with communities, providing targeted funding and support to bring their ambitions to life, and acting as a catalyst for further investment to ensure the long-term sustainability of each regeneration project. Our approach will be bespoke and tailored to each community’s needs.

Queen Elizabeth spoke warmly and often about the value of neighbours and community throughout her life, and we are proud to carry forward her commitment through this work.

We’re grateful to all these organisations from across the UK for their input, support and guidance.

  • A
  • Al-Hilal Regeneration Enterprise
  • Association of Lord-Lieutenants
  • Association for Public Service Excellence
  • B
  • The Beacon Collective
  • Belfast Buildings Trust
  • Big Give
  • Brinnington Together
  • Building Communities Trust
  • C
  • Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, University of Cambridge
  • Charity Commission
  • Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum
  • Coalfields Regeneration Trust
  • The Community Foundation NI
  • Community Land Scotland
  • Community Organisers
  • Community Relations Council
  • Creative Scotland
  • Culture Counts
  • CVS Brent
  • D
  • Dane Bank Green Space
  • Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Development Trusts Association Scotland
  • Disability Wales
  • F
  • Fields in Trust
  • G
  • Generations Working Together
  • Greater Shankill Partnership
  • Green Flag Award
  • Greenspace Scotland
  • Groundwork
  • Groundwork NI
  • Groundwork Wales
  • Grow To Know
  • H
  • The Health Lottery Foundation
  • The Heritage Alliance
  • Historic Environment Scotland
  • Holywell Trust
  • I
  • Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods
  • Inspiring Scotland
  • Inter Faith Wales
  • Intergenerational England
  • Intergenerational Foundation
  • #iwill movement
  • K
  • The King’s Foundation
  • The King’s Gallery, Scotland
  • The King’s Trust
  • KORI Youth Charity
  • L
  • Lambeth Palace
  • The Land Trust
  • Libraries Connected
  • Linking Generations NI
  • Local Government Association
  • Local Places for Nature Programme
  • Local Trust
  • Locality
  • Loughborough University
  • M
  • Made in Stoke
  • Manchester Settlement
  • Metropolitan Mayors
  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
  • N
  • National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
  • National Citizen Service
  • National Education Nature Park
  • National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces
  • National Library of Scotland
  • The National Lottery Community Fund
  • The National Lottery Heritage Fund
  • National Park City Foundation
  • National Records of Scotland
  • National Trust NI
  • Natural England
  • NESTA
  • NI Veterans Commissioner’s Office
  • North Manchester Community Partnership
  • Northern Ireland Office
  • Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network
  • O
  • One Voice Wales
  • Outer Spaces
  • P
  • Phoenix Rising
  • Q
  • QED Foundation
  • The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust
  • Queen’s University Belfast
  • R
  • Race Council Cymru
  • Roma Thematic Group
  • The Royal Countryside Fund
  • Royal Foundation
  • Rural Community Network
  • S
  • Scotland Funders’ Forum
  • Scotland’s Regeneration Forum
  • Scottish Community Development Centre
  • Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
  • Scottish Government
  • Scottish Youth Parliament
  • Sector 3
  • Slow Ways
  • T
  • The Together Coalition
  • Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland
  • U
  • The Ubele Initiative
  • UK Community Foundations
  • Ulster University
  • Ulster Wildlife
  • Uncommon Creative Studio
  • University of St Andrews
  • V
  • Voice4Change England
  • W
  • Wales Council for Voluntary Action
  • Welsh Government
  • Welsh Local Government Association
  • Wigan and Leigh Community Charity
  • Woodland Trust
  • WWF-UK
  • Y
  • YMCA North Staffordshire
  • York Minster
  • The Young Foundation
  • Young Manchester
  • Youth Leads UK
Around 40 young people from My Life My Say gathered for a group portrait outside a timber-clad building, standing on a brick courtyard.
I’ve seen the Queen Elizabeth Trust’s commitment to centring youth voice, and their approach shows real potential to support communities in meaningful ways. When young people are trusted to lead, they can play a powerful role in transforming the spaces around them.
Paris Habib, Squad Community Manager at My Life My Say, smiling at the camera in a studio portrait.

Paris Habib, Squad Community Manager at My Life My Say, is one of many community leaders we spoke to about how the Queen Elizabeth Trust can help local communities to thrive.

Communities also give us an important sense of belonging, which is a compelling need in all of us. We all enjoy moments of great happiness and suffer times of profound sadness; the happiness is heightened, the sadness softened when it is shared.
Queen Elizabeth

Our Team

Sir Damon Buffini, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Trust, smiling at the camera in a studio portrait.

Sir Damon Buffini

Chair

Sir Damon Buffini is Chair of the National Theatre and BBC Commercial Holdings. He was a founding partner and former Managing Partner of Permira. Sir Damon led the UK government’s £2 billion Cultural Recovery Fund. He was knighted for philanthropic and voluntary services.

Alex Holmes OBE, Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Trust, smiling at the camera in an outdoor portrait in a leafy parkland setting.

Alex Holmes OBE

Trustee

Alex is Deputy CEO at The Diana Award, a Director at BBC Children in Need, and was a member of The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, which advised on the national memorialisations. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth named him a Queen’s Young Leader.

John Booth CVO, Trustee of the Queen Elizabeth Trust, smiling at the camera in a formal portrait taken at National Gallery.

John Booth CVO

Trustee

John is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and arts patron with wide experience across charitable and public life. He is Chairman of the Trustees of The National Gallery and of the Royal Drawing School, Vice President of The King’s Trust, and Deputy Lieutenant for West Sussex.

Sir Damon Buffini, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Trust, smiling at the camera in a studio portrait.

Claire Whitaker CBE

Interim CEO

Claire is an accomplished CEO and Non-Executive Director with 25+ years of board-level leadership across culture, health, sport, education, housing, regeneration and technology. A cultural producer, she champions equity and inclusion and plays an active role in policymaking across multiple sectors.

Queen Elizabeth had a strong, practical belief in the importance of communities to provide stability and social cohesion. The Queen Elizabeth Trust reflects her values by targeting support on local community spaces where people meet their neighbours, help each other and enjoy that essential sense of belonging.
Lord Janvrin, former Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth
Princess Elizabeth opened a holiday centre for young people at Avon Tyrell, Hampshire, where some 800 members of youth clubs and parties of school children from surrounding villages waited to greet her. The holiday centre, a house given by Lord Manners to the National Association of Girls' Clubs and Mixed Clubs, houses 150 people and has been renovated at a cost of £20,000, the money being part of a South African gift of £95,000 to the Association. The Princess performed the opening ceremony on the terrace and planted an oak tree in the garden. She was greeted by Lord and Lady Manners, Mrs. Walter Elliot, Lady Sybil Middleton and Mr. Leif Egeland, High Commissioner for South Africa. Picture Shows: Princess Elizabeth wearing a pale green silk check dress, white shoes and white hat trimmed with flowers, planting a scarlet oak tree in the garden of the youth holiday centre which she opened at Avon Tyrell, Hampshire.

FAQs

We expect to make our first grant in spring 2027.

Yes, individual donations can be made on JustGiving

 

We will be funding community spaces, with an emphasis on restoring, renovating or updating existing spaces.

Contact Us

Get in touch with the Trust

We are not accepting submissions for funding at this time.
The Queen Elizabeth Trust is one of three projects that celebrate and commemorate the life of Queen Elizabeth.
National Memorial Foster and Partners. A sunlit pedestrian bridge with a translucent balustrade spans a tree-lined lake in St James's Park, with swans on the water and visitors crossing.

The National Memorial

The national memorial to Queen Elizabeth aims to transform a historic corner of central London, St James’s Park, into an inspiring new public space – a place where people will gather and connect, relax and reflect.
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Queen Elizabeth's official coronation portrait, 1953 — seated on a throne in the Imperial State Crown and ermine-trimmed robe, holding the Sovereign's Sceptre and Orb.

Queen Elizabeth Digital Memorial

The Queen Elizabeth Digital Memorial will create a map of memories to celebrate the life and legacy of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. People across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and worldwide, are invited to send in their memories of Queen Elizabeth.
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