Our statement of apology in connection with evidence linking the origins of our funding to the Rowntree Company’s abhorrent practices overseas in the 19th and 20th Centuries, committed to a long-term plan for restorative justice expected to "include a process of exploring and identifying forms of reparation which further our charitable purposes for the public benefit".
Soon after making this commitment last year we brought together a working group of people with expertise in reparatory justice, voluntary reparations models and racial justice, along with staff and trustees.
The group has met regularly since to explore the principles and practice of reparatory justice and to support us to outline an approach. The group has also contributed to our understanding of the specialist skills and leadership needed to embed this work across the Trust, which will lead to new staff recruitment and the establishment of an external advisory group.
Reparatory justice is an extensive process and although we are still in the very early stages of this work, we remain fully committed to taking tangible steps towards reparations.
JRCT is also supporting further in-depth research arising from the Rowntree Society's preliminary findings.
We remain committed to strengthening JRCT's contribution to racial justice in our grant-making, investments and governance.
There is much more for us to do and we’ll continue to approach this with a spirit of humility and learning.