The Carnegie UK Trust deed sets out Andrew Carnegie’s purpose in establishing the Trust in 1913, to seek:
“improvement of the well-being of the masses of the people of Great Britain and Ireland by such means as are embraced within the meaning of the word “charitable” and which the Trustees may from time to time select as best fitted from age to age for securing these purposes, remembering that new needs are constantly arising as the masses advance.

The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust was founded in 1913 to address the changing needs of the people of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is one of the best known and respected foundations in the British Isles.

In its early decades the Trust focussed primarily upon the building of libraries, reflecting Andrew Carnegie’s strong commitment to extending equality of opportunity through learning. By the nineteen twenties it had also become a major supporter of adult education, funding the Workers’ Educational Association and the creation of Carnegie College in Leeds, (now part of Leeds Metropolitan University), College Harlec in Wales and Newbattle Abbey college in Scotland. It was also a pioneer advocate of rural development and national parks. During the nineteen thirties it began a longstanding programme of funding social welfare projects addressing issues of poverty, unemployment and urban renewal.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Trust established the first of a number of independent national Carnegie Commissions of Inquiry that have been a hallmark of its work since. The first of these examined the nutrition and health of the population during the War. Post 1945 the Trust became a major advocate of comprehensive social work and youth and community services, with leading trustees and Commission members at the time, such as Albemarle, Wolfenden, Younghusband and Titmuss being amongst the leading architects of the British Welfare State.

The Trust has also had a longstanding interest in the arts and museums and over the decades funded numerous high profile projects at national and local levels from the restoration of the Book of Kells in Ireland and the creation of the Castle Museum in York, to supporting extensive networks of community and voluntary arts workers. National Inquires in this area included its seminal work on film education and on arts and disability chaired by filmmaker Richard Attenborough. In the nineteen eighties, with a return of high levels of poverty and unemployment in the UK and Ireland, the Trust focussed much of its attention upon national policy and programme initiatives around the Third Age, young people and community and voluntary service.