The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust was founded in 1913 to address the changing needs of the people of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is one of the best known and respected foundations in the British Isles.
In its early decades the Trust focussed primarily upon the building of libraries, reflecting Andrew Carnegie’s strong commitment to extending equality of opportunity through learning. By the nineteen twenties it had also become a major supporter of adult education, funding the Workers’ Educational Association and the creation of Carnegie College in Leeds, (now part of Leeds Metropolitan University), College Harlec in Wales and Newbattle Abbey college in Scotland. It was also a pioneer advocate of rural development and national parks. During the nineteen thirties it began a longstanding programme of funding social welfare projects addressing issues of poverty, unemployment and urban renewal.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, the Trust established the first of a number of independent national Carnegie Commissions of Inquiry that have been a hallmark of its work since. The first of these examined the nutrition and health of the population during the War. Post 1945 the Trust became a major advocate of comprehensive social work and youth and community services, with leading trustees and Commission members at the time, such as Albemarle, Wolfenden, Younghusband and Titmuss being amongst the leading architects of the British Welfare State.
The Trust has also had a longstanding interest in the arts and museums and over the decades funded numerous high profile projects at national and local levels from the restoration of the Book of Kells in Ireland and the creation of the Castle Museum in York, to supporting extensive networks of community and voluntary arts workers. National Inquires in this area included its seminal work on film education and on arts and disability chaired by filmmaker Richard Attenborough. In the nineteen eighties, with a return of high levels of poverty and unemployment in the UK and Ireland, the Trust focussed much of its attention upon national policy and programme initiatives around the Third Age, young people and community and voluntary service.
Current Policy
In 2003 the Trust undertook a comprehensive review of its work and effectiveness leading trustees to decide to close its reactive grants programmes after some nine decades and henceforth to act as an operating foundation and think tank, with a strong interest in practice and policy informing action research. This move was in large part in recognition of the effectiveness of its role as a convenor of respected and influential independent Commissions of Inquiry into issues of public concern – ‘speaking truth to power,’ as well as the fact that as a grant giver its capacity was now dwarfed by the funding provided by the State, the European Union, the Lottery and myriad charitable giving initiatives and new philanthropy now available across the UK and Ireland.
Currently the Trust convenes Commissions of Inquiry and initiatives around: sustainable rural community development; the strengthening of democracy and civil society; and the promotion of more socially progressive and creative philanthropy. The Trust has been a leading player in establishing the UK’s first national research centre for charitable giving and philanthropy.
In recent times, the Privy Council approved an amendment to the Trust’s Royal Charter, which now enables the Trust to engage in wider European and international collaboration. It has become an active member of the Network of European Foundations and in 2005 organised the first Carnegie International Philanthropy Symposium and the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
The Trust currently has sixteen trustees, half of whom are also members of our local sister trust the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust. Trustees are appointed following public advertisement for up to eleven years. The Trust’s President is William Thomson, great grandson of our founder. Most of the work of the Trust is carried out by its Programme Sub-Committees, which also include co-optees expert in the programme area. The Chief Executive and Programme Directors, working at either its Scottish or London offices, manage the Trust. The Trust has a small core staff team. In late 2007, the Trust moved to a new purpose built HQ together with the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.
