Funder to close and redistribute millions of pounds amid ‘colonial capitalism’ concerns

Lankelly Chase Foundation is to close after more than 60 years of grant giving due to concerns about its role within a philanthropy model “so entangled with colonial capitalism”.

It has announced that over the next five years the foundation will be dismantled and closed and it will “relinquish control of our assets”.

This includes its endowment and resources “so that money can flow freely to those doing life-affirming social justice work”.

“We will make space to reimage how wealth, capital and social justice can exist in the service of all life and for future generations,” it said.

According to the charity register the Foundation’s accounts for the year ending March 2022 show it had unrestricted funds worth £144m. Its total income from investments was £2.42m.

Lankelly Chase has already handed 6% of its endowment (£8m) to Baobab Foundation, which focuses on resourcing racial justice. Baobab has said that Lankelly Chase “has shown what a radical funder looks like in the space of racial justice”.



A transition pathway is now being developed to redistribute the remainder of Lankelly Chase’s assets to focus on:

• 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.

“We have recognised the gravity of the interlocking social, climate and economic global crises we are experiencing today,” said Lankelly Chase.

“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.”



It added: “The ending of Lankelly Chase will undoubtedly be experienced as a loss by some, and we feel that strongly.

“We will shape this process with care and responsibility, especially for those whose work, insights and allyship have allowed us to understand the need for this approach. To be clear and offer reassurance, we will honour all existing grant agreements and contracts.”

“While this feels a bold, necessary and inevitable decision, we know that this phase of uncertainty might feel unsettling for both us and our partners. But it is only by opening the space for radical reimagining that we can connect with the potential and possibility that lies beyond the dominant model.”

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