A Girls' School was opened in London in 1788 by members of the premier Grand Lodge. The moving force was Chevalier Bartholomew Ruspini, Surgeon-Dentist to King George III. It was financed by voluntary subscriptions and collections at the annual Anniversary Festival held in Freemasons' Hall. After the dinner the girls were brought in and paraded round the Hall to meet their benefactors. The girls were provided with food, clothing and a basic education in domestic arts.

Members of the Antients Grand Lodge founded a charity for boys in 1798. Believing that bricks and mortar cost too much to maintain they refused to build a School, insisting that all the money collected should be expended in providing grants to deserving boys to enable them to complete their education or to pay premiums to enable them to be apprenticed to a useful trade.

As with the girls the boys' charity was financed solely by collections from lodges and individual donations.