After over 60 years of operating as a charitable grant-making foundation, Lankelly Chase has decided to redistribute all its assets and close within a five year timeframe.
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.
We have called this next phase our Transition Pathway because humanity urgently needs to choose new pathways as we transition through interlocking crises. The term honours the work and vision of colleagues at the Transition Resource Circle.
The journey to radical change
The journey to this decision has been shaped and guided by the work of many social justice leaders who have shown us that alternatives to traditional philanthropy are both possible and necessary. We will continue collaborating with them to model and co-create the resourcing infrastructures that social justice work desperately needs.
One of those to whom we owe so much is the Baobab Foundation, which has built a network of radical friendship and solidarity so that resources can move in ways that support freedom, justice and unity. In solidarity with their network, we will move £8m of our capital (currently 6 per cent of our endowment) to Baobab Foundation. The ease of this decision has helped pave the way for the bolder step we have now taken.
As we develop the map for redistributing the remainder of our assets and resources, several aims will guide us:
- 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.
Opening dialogue
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.
If our vision of supporting renewed resourcing systems for social justice work inspires you, or if you have worries or questions to talk through, we are keen to hear from you.
As we embark on this very different path, we also have a mixture of hopes and worries, so we will approach this work with ambition, determination, and openness.
We know not everyone will agree with this decision, and we are not saying every endowed foundation should follow our direction. However, we believe that the case for profound change is now impossible to ignore, and each of us must find our answer. This is ours.
We invite you to reach out to us if you have any questions, want to discuss your thoughts, or require further information. We are eager to engage in ambitious and open conversations as we navigate this transformative journey.
For your immediate questions, we have written some FAQS. READ HERE
Watch our video below where our CEO Julian Corner, and Trustees Marai Larasi and Asif Afridi discuss the Transition Pathway decision
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