About us

Stuart Low was a young Islington man who killed himself in 1997 after failing to find the help he needed to cope with schizophrenia. His death prompted local people to form the Stuart Low Trust (SLT) to create better services for other vulnerable people. SLT was established in 1999.

Stuart Low

Our Mission

Our mission is to ensure that local people, especially those experiencing social isolation or mental distress, have access to the range of facilities they need to successfully manage their lives. We know that help can be needed at any time.

Our formal charitable objects are “the promotion, protection and preservation of public health and the relief of those suffering from mental, emotional or psychological illness or distress.”

Inclusiveness and Working Together

These are our core values, which means that we welcome volunteers and attendees regardless of where they live or whether or not they have had a diagnosis of mental illness. All those involved with SLT (trustees, staff, volunteers and participants) work together.

Some of our Achievements

In recognition of our monthly programme of outings to places of interest across London, SLT received the award for Mental well-being in the 2010 London Health Commission Awards. We were also shortlisted in the Cohesive Communities category.

In June 2009 an independent evaluation of the first year of SLT’s Wellbeing Project was published. In his postscript, Lead Evaluator Ian May wrote: “The non-judgmental, welcoming, caring and professional ethos that the project promises and, in my personal experience, delivers is a unique and exciting potential to be built upon if you so choose and the fact that this service delivers a much needed ‘out-of-hours’ provision that is participant led and is clearly an important and enriching facet of the lives of those who attend it is to be celebrated”.

We are one of three featured charities in Unlocking the Potential: Volunteers in Islington, a report by the Cripplegate Foundation.

Islington Primary Care Trust cited us as an example of good practice in their 2006 report on Mental Health in Islington.

Further Information & Annual Report

The Stuart Low Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales number 1102325 and a limited company registered in England number 5001948.

For more details about the background to our work and how we are funded click here.

Download our 2010/11 Annual Report and Accounts here.

To listen to a short interview with Chair of Trustees Virginia Low click here.

  • This Friday…

    Friday 24 February 2012
    Musician and songwriter Helen McCookerybook's career spans over three decades, from the punk era to her latest album of delicate and achingly beautiful songs. More info here.

  • Philosophy Forum

    This Sunday (26 February) Harry Dempsey will be leading a discussion on how we understand the concept of free will in light of a conception of the universe as causally structured. Maybe you're destined to attend! More info here.

  • SLT awarded PQASSO Quality Mark

    SLT has been awarded the Charities Evaluation Services PQASSO quality mark - details here.

  • Donate to SLT by text!

    You can now donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to SLT by text message! For example, if you want to donate £5, text STUA11 £5 to 70070. See our donations page for more details.

  • Download our Annual Report

    SLT's 2010/11 Annual Report and Accounts can be downloaded here.