Provision Trade Benevolent Institution celebrates its 190th anniversary

With the ethos of “providing for the providers” the provision trade charity, the Provision Trade Benevolent Institution (PTBI), is celebrating its 190th anniversary this year as one of the oldest British benevolent societies still in existence today.

The society was founded on 29th October 1835 when a group of cheesemongers met at Anderton’s Coffee House in Fleet Street, London, and set up a charity “for the relief of their unfortunate brethren”. The charity was later joined by “Provision Merchants, Agents or Brokers, Butter and Egg Salesmen, Cheese Factors, Bacon Dryers and Lard Refiners”.

The PTBI is a charity providing financial help to people (or their surviving widows/widowers) who have worked in the provision trade and find themselves in financially distressed circumstances. Today, the charity continues to support people from the provision trade who have fallen on difficult times with regular financial support or one-off grants to help them live independently. 

The charity is supervised by a Committee, which is made up of 12 trustees, many of whom have had a long history working in the provision trade. Beneficiaries of the PTBI have commented on the work of the charity, with one saying it can “provide the difference between existing and living”, and another adding: “The PTBI grant enables me to maintain my independence by helping me keep my car on the road, by which I can also keep in touch with family and friends.”

“I’ve always been passionate about supporting the people who make this industry what it is.”

Tony Stanton, PTBI trustee

One of the PTBI’s longest-serving trustees, Tony Stanton, previously managing director of Direct Table, commented: “I’ve always been passionate about supporting the people who make this industry what it is. When I first heard about the PTBI, I was struck by its incredible history of helping those who’ve fallen on hard times. 

“I wanted to play a small part in continuing that legacy and making a difference to colleagues from across the trade.”

Another trustee, Brian Murrell, who formerly worked for Morrisons and its manufacturing arm Farmers Boy, added: “It meant a lot to me to become a trustee of my industry charity; an industry that I love and have been involved in for over 60 years of my working life. We remain fiercely independent and can react for assistance almost immediately, reducing stress for the applicants/family at their most difficult time.”