The work of Trinity House evolved to cover charitable causes such as the education of young seamen, and dispute resolution in the marine field. Both KWF and Trinity House provide focused charitable care. Trinity House provides this for seamen and their dependents, building alms houses for pensioners and providing annuities to widows.

The KWF, whilst not as old as Trinity House, also supports those in need from The Netherlands, who might need pension payment top-ups, but also emotional and financial support for those, who are living in hardship throughout the United Kingdom. For both, the focus is on the individual, or of a small group, with an aim to lessen injustice and provide necessary resources in a challenging world.

In the reign of King Henry VIII, a group of master mariners founded what is now Trinity House to ensure safety in the treacherous waters and on the dangerous coastline of the Thames Estuary and the river Thames.
Trinity House as a naval authority was founded by Letters Patent in 1514. Buoys and beacons were installed in 1594, where previously church steeples and trees functioned as navigational aids.

From the early 17th Century onwards, lighthouses were built around the British coast and Trinity House came to be the official Lighthouse Authority not only for Great Britain, but also for the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Moreover it became the licensing authority for pilotage along the British coast and in the deep North Atlantic.

The present Master is HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.