Our Story

For over 250 years, we’ve worked to help change the lives of communities across the Wakefield district. Our philanthropic roots date back over two centuries, when we began to provide social welfare benefits, along with other similarly minded individuals and organisations.

We’ve had a few names over the years, including the Hospital Saturday Fund, Workpeople’s Saturday Fund, Clayton Hospitals Contributory Scheme, Wakefield & District Hospitals Contributory Scheme and, latterly, Wakefield & District Health & Community Support: an independent grant maker, which began to issue donations to charitable purposes.

Health and wellbeing has always been at the heart of the charity: as the Hospital Saturday Fund, from 1876 until 1942 we were a major contributor to Clayton Hospital, which had evolved from the Wakefield General Dispensary

Today we’re just as driven by our founding vision of investing in community health and prosperity; and as Prosper Wakefield district, we remain one the only independent organisations in the area. We work to improve the lives of people across Wakefield district, not only through funding, but more widely through our funding partnerships and a network of community interviewers who speak to and represent the people of Wakefield district on a daily basis.