During the 19th century a profusion of charitable organizations emerged to alleviate the awful conditions of the working class in the slums. The Labourer’s Friend Society, chaired by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830, aimed to improve working-class conditions. It promoted, for example, the allotment of land to labourers for “cottage husbandry” that later became the allotment movement. In 1844 it became the first Model Dwellings Company.

There was strong growth in municipal charities. The Brougham Commission led on to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reorganized multiple local charities by incorporating them into single entities under supervision from local government.