1956
Sir George Martin was a prominent Leeds businessman who became Lord Mayor of Leeds, High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, Chairman of Leeds City Magistrates, Chairman of the Leeds Area Health Authority and Chairman of the Governors of Woodhouse Grove School. He was given the Freedom of the City of Leeds in 1966. He formed the Trust in 1956, endowing it with shares. The initial trustees were Frank Marshall, his brother-in-law and business partner, who was himself a High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, and Gordon Hunter who was his accountant. In the early years the Trust supported charities in Leeds and national charitable work focussed on older people.