RCN Foundation

History

The RCN Foundation became a limited company in September 2009 and was formally registered as a charity the following year. It was created when the Royal College of Nursing split its charitable work from its trade union functions. Starting in 2010, all charitable money, including education funds that had been part of the RCN since 1916, moved to the Foundation. One earlier high-profile event was the 1951 film premiere of The Lady with a Lamp, which Princess Elizabeth attended as President of the Student Nurses Association.

Charitable objects

The RCN Foundation supports nursing to improve health and public well-being. It focuses on developing clinical practice, improving care quality and patient experience, and supporting learning and development for nursing, midwifery, and healthcare professionals. The Foundation provides one-off hardship grants through its Benevolent Fund. Its activities include grants to individuals and organisations, advocacy, advice, information, and sponsoring or undertaking research.

Awards

The RCN Foundation regularly advertises awards for nursing and midwifery professionals, students, and healthcare support workers, including in-career and post-qualification activities such as postgraduate study or short courses. Specific opportunities include the Mair Scholarship in Scotland and the Monica Baly grant for researching nursing history. From 2014 to 2017, ten travel scholarships focusing on clinical leadership were offered in partnership with the Florence Nightingale Foundation.

In 2023, the Foundation launched the Michelle Cox RCN Foundation Anti-Racism Award, an annual award for registered nurses and midwives across the UK, restricted to RCN members, funding projects targeting unequal workplace relations impacting individuals from the global majority. In 2025, the Foundation funded a study on domestic abuse experiences and support needs of UK nursing and midwifery professionals.

Fundraising

Funding comes from private donations, often from nurses. Fundraising events include a nurse swimming the English Channel in 2014, nurses walking the West Highland Way in 2016, and a 102-year-old war veteran abseiling 17 storeys down the Royal London Hospital in 2023 for a Guinness World Record. In 2023, TikTok pledged £5 million for the Foundation's coronavirus support fund. Joint ventures include climbing Mount Cavell in 2015 to raise funds for nurses in financial hardship, administered with the Cavell Nurses' Trust.