Launched on 7 November 2019, it serves as an equivalent organisation to the Disasters Emergency Committee in England and Wales.
The charity's first appeal was launched in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Duke of Cambridge appeared in a video for the Trust, launching a fundraising appeal to help charities during the outbreak.
The appeal raised £11 million in its first week, with the money going out to "front line charities" and to the UK Community Foundations to be distributed among "local community foundations".
[5] In June 2020, the UK broadcaster Channel 4 received special permission from FIFA to air the 1966 World Cup in aid of the National Emergencies Trust's Coronavirus Appeal.
The match was broadcast as part of a programme titled Final Replay '66, and was presented by Gabby Logan, with commentary from Geoff Hurst and Glenn Hoddle.