The Templar Pilgrimage Trust
"A charitable trust, founded on chivalric principles, supporting individuals and groups undertaking pilgrimages that benefit not only themselves, but also those amongst whom the pilgrims live and work.”
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Aims of the Templar Pilgrimage Trust (TPT) This charity supports groups and individuals wishing to undertake a pilgrimage to a recognized Christian shrine. We are especially keen to support young persons and the disabled. The destination may be in this country or abroad; we look for an educational outcome. Applications are welcomed from persons and groups from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. |
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Activities of the TPT The Trust currently has an income-generating capital base of around £20,000. Using the interest income and other donations, the Trust makes grants totalling approx £2,000 per year. - The Hyman Grant of £500 to a deserving individual or group in order to help fund a pilgrimage. The Trustees look for a clearly defined itinerary, an understanding of the concept of making a pilgrimage, and the expectation of a wider benefit to the local community when the pilgrim's return home. - The Mallett Grant of £500 to a church school to help children build their own faith in God, and their understanding of the human tensions between cultures in the Middle East, by visiting a place of Christian pilgrimage, worship or learning; or a teacher for a personal pilgrimage that will help to bring a sense of pilgrimage and faith in God to the children he or she teaches. - The Trustees make up to £1,000 available each year in additional grants, of varying size and number, to other applicants whose requests meet the objects of the Trust. |
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Past Grant Recipients Recipients of grants are asked to provide the Trustees with a brief report of their experiences, and a selection of the reports is published in the Order’s magazine. Past recipients have included parish priests, lay ministers, school teachers and children, many from deprived communities. |
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Grant Applicants If you would like further information on our grant making activity, please send an email for the attention of Cicelyn Hinds, the Honorary Secretary, to the email address given on the Contact page. |
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Origins
of the TPT The Trust was established to emulate the highest ideals of the medieval Order of Knights Templar, founded by Hugh de Payens and eight companions in Jerusalem in 1119. Their primary aim was to give aid and protection to pilgrims travelling to the holy places of Christendom, especially in the Holy Land. The aim today is still to offer aid, not by force of arms as in those far-off days, but by practical Christian care. The Trust achieves this by providing grants to those who would otherwise be deprived of the benefit a visit to a Christian shrine can bring, whether they go in search of healing – physical or mental – or of spiritual regeneration. Experiencing first hand the splendours of a great cathedral or the solemn dignity of a seat of Christian learning can bring religious education alive in a way that can never be achieved in a school classroom. The Trustees believe that the majority of parents and students welcome visits to such places as a stimulating form of teaching. The Trustees’ approach is based on an ecumenical definition of Christianity, and recognises that each pilgrim has a different perspective guiding the search for a greater understanding of God, personal spirituality and the world in which we live. |
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Foundation On the Feast of St Bernard of Clairvaux, in 1982 the Templar Pilgrimage Trust (OTJ) was launched by the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem and the Industrial Temple - Grand Priory of Knights Templar in England and Wales, in furtherance of its work for charity. The Trust received approval from the Charity Commission for England and Wales in 1984. |
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Funding The initial funds were raised by the Grand Priory through an appeal to its members and friends. The capital of the Trust was augmented in 1985 by a legacy and in 2005 by a major grant from the Grand Priory. Fund-raising events are carried out throughout the year. |
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Honorary Officers and Trustees The Trustees are drawn from within the membership of the Order and also from individuals with independent external expertise. The list of Trustees can be viewed on the UK Charity Commission's website entry for the charity - click [here] to view the details in a new window. The Templar Pilgrimage Trust leaflet can be downloaded from the Resources section. |
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