The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is one of three trusts established in 1904 by Joseph Rowntree, using wealth made by the Rowntree confectionary company.
In 2021, our trustees addressed aspects of our historical legacy that require reflection. Alongside the other Rowntree trusts we responded to a review indicating that the Rowntree Company had profited from systems of colonial exploitation.
As a Quaker organisation established to work for a more peaceful and just world, we believe it is important to address these histories and the harm they caused. Our trustees published a statement outlining our commitment to identifying meaningful forms of reparation which further our charitable purposes and benefit the public.
Since JRCT was founded over 120 years ago, the organisation has funded thousands of people and organisations doing charitable work for a fairer and more peaceful world.
Guided by our Quaker values of peace, truth, and equality, and operating as a charitable trust in line with charity law and regulations, we continue Joseph Rowntree’s vision: tackling the root causes of problems, not just their symptoms.
While much of the attention given to the Rowntree legacy has been on their contribution to progressive business practice in the UK, the story of how the Rowntree Company benefitted from colonial era trade has until recently been largely overlooked. Research has indicated that the Rowntree company used supply chains built on forced and unfair labour during the colonial era, including the purchase of cocoa and other goods produced by enslaved people. There is also evidence of oppressive and exploitative practices at the Rowntree company’s South African subsidiary, Wilson Rowntree, during the apartheid era.
As a Quaker organisation working to advance peace and justice, we have a responsibility to acknowledge these histories and their ongoing impact. In 2021, we joined the other Rowntree trusts in responding to this review. We committed to making amends by exploring meaningful forms of reparation that support our charitable purposes and benefit the public.
We have worked with experts in reparations and racial justice, and with historians and archivists, and taken time to understand these histories and how they relate to our continuing work. These discussions have been in-depth, supported by experts, and needed time, consideration and care.
We are now ready to move forward and we are seeking a head of reparations to join our senior leadership team and to work with affected communities, historians, legal experts and other partners to develop and lead a reparations programme.
This work will be developed in collaboration with our board and CEO. It will further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.
We are recruiting a head of reparations specifically to develop the programme. At this stage, the specific scope, structure or funding allocation has not been finalised. We plan to share further details as work proceeds.
Since 2021, we have taken practical steps to ensure our work today reflects our values and commitment to addressing the root causes of conflict and injustice. This has included
• Recruiting new trustees to include people beyond the Quaker community
• Including policy themes addressing systemic racism across our grant programmes
• Recruiting more expert advisors to strengthen our grant-making approach. Most funding decisions are now made by specialist committees made up of trustees, staff and specialist advisors to ensure rigour and accountability in decision-making.
We intend to continue grant-making in the long term. JRCT will continue to invest its funds ethically and responsibly, and to make grants to those who address the root causes of problems in our society as outlined by Joseph Rowntree when he established our organisation.
We want to remain true to our responsibilities to the past, present, and future by honouring our commitment to addressing historic injustice while ensuring long-term support for changemakers.
You can see the advert for the head of reparations here.
If you have recruitment queries please email: recruitment@jrct.org.uk
If you have general queries please email enquiries@jrct.org.uk
The Rowntree cocoa factory at Tanner's Moat, York, 1890s. Source The Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York.