Lankelly Chase has announced that it will close in the next five years and redistribute its more than £100m of assets.
The 60-year-old foundation said that it would “relinquish control of our assets, including the endowment and all resources, so that money can flow freely to those doing life-affirming social justice work”.
In its announcement, the 60-year-old foundation said it viewed “the traditional philanthropy model as so entangled with colonial capitalism that it inevitably continues the harms of the past into the present”.
According to the charity’s latest accounts, it held £144m in unrestricted funds as of 31 March 2022.
£8m to Baobab Foundation
The foundation said its decision had been “guided by the work of many social justice leaders who have shown us that alternatives to traditional philanthropy are both possible and necessary”.
It said it would move £8m of its capital (6% of its endowment) to the Baobab Foundation, an organisation set up in 2021 with a focus on funding Black and global majority communities in the UK.
Lankelly Chase said it would now “develop the map for redistributing the remainder of our assets and resources” and would be driven by several aims:
- Promoting mutuality and collectivism.
- Enabling resources to flow with ease to communities doing social justice work.
- Investing capital in ways that are aligned with the visions and values of communities.
- Allowing a diversity of resourcing approaches to flourish that reflect the necessary diversity of life-affirming work.
- Supporting the deep embodiment of alternative ways of living, knowing and being in the world.
‘These times demand bold action from us all in charitable organisations’
The foundation said in a statement: “We have recognised the gravity of the interlocking social, climate and economic global crises we are experiencing today.
“At the same time, we view the traditional philanthropy model as so entangled with colonial capitalism that it inevitably continues the harms of the past into the present.
“We acknowledge our role in maintaining this traditional model and know that these times demand bold action from us all in charitable organisations. This is our response.
“Over the next five years, we will dismantle and close Lankelly Chase. We will relinquish control of our assets, including the endowment and all resources, so that money can flow freely to those doing life-affirming social justice work.
“We will make space to reimagine how wealth, capital and social justice can co-exist in the service of all life, now and for future generations.”
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