CSIS Charity Fund: Our history

The origins of the Civil Service Insurance Society (CSIS) can be traced back to October 1889, when a proposal was made in the War Office to set up a provident fund to provide life insurance for civil servants, as the civil service pension scheme did not provide for dependents' benefits.

The CSIS was founded in 1890, and surplus income was donated to a dedicated charity to support the widows and dependents of deceased policyholders.

The next step was the establishment of the Civil Service Widows and Orphan's Fund in 1906 which was originally a discretionary benevolent fund. It provided financial support exclusively to the dependents of deceased policyholders of the CSIS. It received profits from the sale of life assurance policies and used them to provide extra support to the widows and orphans of deceased policyholders.

The Civil Service Widows and Orphan's Fund became a registered charity in 1979 and began making substantial donations to civil and public services charities.The name of the Charity was changed to the CSIS Charity Fund in July 2009 to reflect its wider role and to make clear its link with the Insurance Society.

The Charity's main source of income remains the annually available profits from the Insurance Society which are gifted irrevocably to the Charity under a Deed of Covenant.

The Charity has an independent Board of Trustees who have complete discretion on the grants awarded.

CSIS is an insurance business without shareholders or owners and can therefore maximise the donations to its sister charity. Visit the CSIS website for more information on their products  www.csis.co.uk