Barrow Cadbury Trust is an independent charity using all its resources for social justice.
We have been focusing on social justice and equality issues for more than 100 years, celebrating our centenary in 2020. Our endowment produces an income which we use to fund our work and that of our partners.
We also deploy the funds of other organisations for our social justice mission. Examples of this are Access Foundation (social investment infrastructure), National Lottery Community Fund (Covid-19 related needs in the migration sector 2020/2021) and a group of foundations who club together to pay for us to run Fair by Design – the advocacy programme focusing on ending the Poverty Premium.
Our Founders and Quakerism
Our Quaker founders, Barrow and Geraldine Cadbury, worked throughout their lives for greater social justice. Our commitment to bringing about a more just and equal society carries on that tradition. Building on that Quaker heritage we seek long-term solutions by addressing the root causes of inequality.
Our Vision, Mission and Values
Our Vision
The Trust’s vision is of a just and peaceful society which recognises the equal value of all people.
Our Mission
The Trust’s mission is to use all of our assets, especially our money, to work with others to bring about structural change for a more just and equal society.
Our Values
Voice: The Trust is committed to ‘speaking truth to power’ by enabling the unfiltered voices of people’s real lived experience to influence those in power
Collaboration: Recognising that we can achieve little on our own, the Trust works in partnership with others to build movements for change
Engagement: The Trust aims to use the power that having independent money gives us and to work with all our partners respectfully in the interests of our shared goals.
Independence: The Trust sees a strong civil society, of which we are a part and which we will nurture, as a key mechanism for holding the powerful to account.
Learning: The Trust seeks to learn from all the work we undertake and support – and to share that learning widely to increase impact.
Innovation and Evidence: The Trust will work over a sustained period of time to find and build an evidence base for new solutions to old problems.
Quaker Values: The Trust respects its historical roots in Birmingham and in Quaker values, although now embracing all faiths and none.
Cross-Cutting Themes
- Strengthening civil society.
- Putting diversity, equity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.
- Addressing gender-based disadvantage.
- Addressing racism in all its forms.
- Promoting sustainable development and addressing climate change.
Our Model of Working
The Trust sees itself as a change-maker rather than a grant-maker. We work on structural and systemic change to challenge and change what we see as the root causes of injustice.
- We have an enduring commitment to racial, gender, criminal and economic justice and this looks different in every decade. Our values remain the same but the form that our work takes changes over time.
- We work with others in collaborations and alliances to bring about long-term, lasting change to the structures and systems which perpetuate inequality and injustice. For example, we run the Fair By Design initiatives to end the Poverty Premium, working with policy makers, regulators and essential services industries.
- We consult with others about what needs to change and how best to achieve it. Then we use a variety of resources, including money, to build towards that change, adapting the approach as we go.
- This kind of approach usually requires a long time frame, building support and evidence and chipping away at unbalanced power structures – a time horizon of at least a decade is needed. We recognise that many foundations do not have this luxury and that working in this way does not suit us all. For us, it is a way to create change with lower budgets than many of our peers.
Using all our Assets and Resources
Because our resources are relatively modest, we use more than just our funding to achieve our goals including:
- Social investment.
- Serving on boards and advisory groups.
- Contributing to a healthy civil society.
- Convening practitioners and partners.
- Working catalytically.
All our activities and grants aim to catalyse and contribute to our partners’ joint goals:
- We aim to bridge the divide between those with lived experience and policymakers.
- We ‘speak truth to power’ and try to make sure that our work is informed by ‘Experts by Experience’.
- We work with think tanks, campaigning organisations and pressure groups to feed into public dialogue on some of the difficult issues of our age.
- We fund research to influence public policy and practice.
- We engage in shareholder activism.
- We work to better align our investment portfolio with our vision and values.