The Rayne Foundation was established in 1962 by Lord Rayne, who was Life President of London Merchant Securities plc, a diversified property and venture capital business, which he built up and of which he was chairman for forty years until 2000. Lord Rayne was also chairman, trustee or council member of numerous arts, education, medical and social welfare charities. These included Chairman of the National Theatre and St Thomas' Hospital. He remained chairman of the Rayne Foundation until his death in 2003.

Over more than forty years at the Rayne Foundation we have given to many different causes and organisations. As well as being a traditional philanthropist, Lord Rayne took great efforts to ensure that the Rayne Foundation was actively engaged with the needs of society. Examples of the Foundation’s early work along these lines are the Rayne Institutes – created in London, Edinburgh and Paris in the 1960s and 1970s to build a bridge between medical research and hospitals. Lord Rayne worked with the government, universities and hospitals, drew on his property development expertise and experience and, with contributions from the Foundation, he encouraged this new approach and provided buildings where medical researchers and doctors could work alongside each other. This kind of active engagement is now being revived.

2006 saw the adoption of our theme and the use of a new set of tools, which have been designed to meet society’s changing needs. 2007 saw the introduction of our two-stage application process and two Third Sector Excellence Awards (for Innovation in Grant-making and Best Website).