Charity and Philanthropy in the Regency

With a wide class divide, the Protestant Church's penchant towards helping the poor, and lack of a healthy welfare state Regency England was rife with the need for charity. Many of the upper classes tried to fill the demand, if not for their own gain, and some (not all by any account) of the impoverished received much needed assistance. Though many noble families notably did not like to directly associate with lower classes, the righteousness of helping the destitute (especially widows and orphans) was an undeniable factor in the levels of philanthropy witnessed at the time. Grand balls and galas in the name of fundraising for charity were fashionable, and everyone from a simple Magistrate to the Queen of England herself were well-known patrons of Charitable Societies, orphanages, asylums, veteran hospitals, and workhouses. To do so elevated one's status by helping your country, following the commandments of God, being empathetic to the plight of others, and demonstrating you had enough wealth to donate (depending on how public your support).

Charitable organizations spanned the gambit, from mere salons of debate to wretched city workhouses in squalid conditions to reputable schools that housed and taught hundreds of beneficiaries. However, the most common form of charity was to give back in small ways to your landed tenants. To have extremely poor people on your lands and under your peerage was seen as somewhat shameful. It demonstrated your need to drain those under your care of taxes and opportunity to fund your estate. Some noble houses would send table leftovers to the poor and help local paupers. Parish-based help from your local church parish was another common source of aid.

My character Countess Theodora Monroe has established some charitable organizations (she has a bleeding heart when it comes to the less fortunate) that may interest your characters. ✰The Society for Nutrition, a charitable society supporting programs in which some impoverished may learn cookery as a trade, with practice food being distributed to soup kitchens, and a nutrition based cookbook for those with little money or time is being written to support literacy and quality of life ✰The Guardian House Orphanage, a London orphanage specializing in keeping together families with multiple siblings ✰The Felicity Scholarship Fund, a society that sponsors talented eldest children to higher education, to better support the family unit If your character has interest in joining one of these societies, please write Countess Theodora Monroe when game starts up (more interesting in my opinion) or contact me directly for pre-established character ties. If you'd like to learn more about Regency era charity or have ideas to make your own, here are some resources. https://www.regencyhistory.net/2018/04/asylum-for-female-orphans-in-regency.html

https://www.vahs.org.uk/2016/02/feature-charity-in-the-georgian-era-lessons-for-today/ https://www.madamegilflurt.com/2016/11/charity-events-in-georgian-england-or.html