In June 2016, Lord Stone of Blackheath hosted an evening reception at The House of Lords celebrating over 160 years of FTCT's work.

Guests included representatives from the retail and manufacturing industries, charities and trade organisations including UKFT and BSSA, alongside FTCT stakeholders and beneficiaries.

A very special guest

We were also very honoured to be joined by Gerald Dickens, great-grandson of Charles Dickens, one of our founding trustees. Gerald is pictured above with (from left to right) Meg (Chair of Trustees), Anna (FTCT Chief Executive) and his wife Elizabeth.

As one of our special guests, Gerald was extremely positive about the work we continue to do today and our historical ties to his great-great-grandfather.  

Gerald Dickens is an actor and also a brilliant storyteller travelling around the country bringing to life the classics of his great great grandfather. 

Looking to the future

Speakers on the night included Lord Stone and Louise May, senior HR advisor, Boden Leicester, who spoke about her personal experience of referring staff to FTCT.

Meg and Anna then outlined plans to double the amount of children FTCT support by 2019. Meg commented:

Our purpose is very simple and clear. FTCT is here to give money to families in need and our goal is to help many more families. So our first and most important objective is to raise awareness of the charity and that we are here to help. We hope that everyone who attended the event will help us achieve our goal by referring families to FTCT and distributing our information among their colleagues and staff.

A huge thank you to Lord Stone for being such a wonderful host and for making last night’s event possible. Thank you to Louise and Meg for their insightful and emotive speeches.

Our history

The Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust (FTCT)is a small charity with a long history of providing financial support to families in the UK fashion and textile industry.

Our vision is that no fashion or textile family has to struggle financially to meet their child’s basic needs.

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