When the schools ran into severe financial difficulties during the Great Depression, they were rescued by mortgages from the Legal and General Assurance Society, but under a new management scheme in 1934 the Martyrs' Trust was permitted to nominate only one sixth of the governors of schools.
The loans were finally repaid in 1980, when a revised scheme of management was agreed, creating the Allied Schools Council.
Associate members get support from the organisation's head office in Banbury, Oxfordshire in return for an annual fee.
In this way the organisation offers an insurance policy against difficult times, as well as administrative support.
They also act as a network between schools for the purpose of sharing information and ideas.