The Pioneer Club was a progressive women's club founded in Regent Street, London, in 1892 by the social worker and temperance activist Emily Massingberd. A discussion prompted by Mrs B R Headlam at the Club in November 1900 led to the formation in the spring of 1901 of the Pioneer Loan Training Fund Society, whose aim was to advance and encourage women’s work. Members of the Pioneer Club subscribed to the Society’s loan fund (full title The Pioneer and Writers’ Club Loan Training Fund). The Society co-operated with a number of similar organisations, including the Women’s Employment Federation and the Central Bureau [Central Employment Bureau for Women]. Miss M G Spencer of the Central Bureau was a member of the PLTF committee which administered the loan fund. In June 1938, the PLTF was affiliated to the Women's Employment Federation as it had received insufficient applications for loans. In January 1946 it was agreed that it should amalgamate with the Society for Promoting the Training of Women. The amalgamation took place in 1948: the PLTF retained its identity under the name of 'The Pioneer Fund' of the SPTW and two members of the PLTF's committee joined the SPTW committee. [Notes drawn from the PLTF archives.]