What LankellyChase Foundation does

LankellyChase Foundation is an independent UK charitable foundation, established through the combined legacies of Major Alfred Allnatt and Ron Diggens, with a £138 million endowment as of March 2022. For more than 60 years it operated as a traditional grant-making foundation; since 2012 its mission has focused on severe and multiple disadvantage, and in July 2023 the board announced the unprecedented decision to voluntarily dissolve the foundation and redistribute its entire endowment to communities by 2028. The foundation is now executing a Transition Pathway that involves responsibly closing legacy grant programmes, moving capital into community-led resourcing vehicles, and conducting research and development on alternative wealth-redistribution mechanisms. Core offerings include the Transition Pathway initiative, participation in the LocalMotion six-place social justice network (Carmarthen, Enfield, Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Oldham, Torbay) co-funded with five peer foundations, a Living Wage Friendly Funder accreditation programme, and a public Legacy Archive documenting 15 years of institutional learning.

The foundation's "technology" is essentially process and capital rather than software: it operates a WordPress website, a newsletter, an Instagram channel, and the open-access Legacy Archive. There is no proprietary platform, API, or AI capability. The business model is endowment-funded philanthropy — investment income from ethical and sustainable funds (Baillie Gifford Positive Change, Impax Environmental Markets, Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth, Montanaro Better World, Schroders Global Sustainable Growth, Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Sustainability, among others) is distributed as grants and capital transfers. There are no prices, no paying customers, and no recurring revenue; the foundation is in deliberate wind-down, with 6 staff members, an 11-member board of trustees, and a UK-only geographic focus centred on England and Wales.

LankellyChase serves grassroots social-justice organisations, communities facing severe and multiple disadvantage (overlapping crises of mental ill health, drug misuse, homelessness, and violence), and place-based networks working on community-led transformation. Its primary customers/beneficiaries are therefore nonprofit and community actors rather than commercial buyers, and its go-to-market is relationship- and convening-driven rather than sales-driven.

Name

LankellyChase Foundation

Legal name

LankellyChase Foundation

Website

https://lankellychase.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

LankellyChase Foundation is a UK charitable foundation executing a planned dissolution to redistribute its £138m endowment to communities by 2028, shifting from traditional grant-making to community-led resourcing and supporting a six-place social justice network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation / Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Charitable grant-making
• Endowment redistribution
• Philanthropy funding
• Social justice grantmaking
• Place-based social change

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Income: Lankelly Chase is an endowed foundation whose income comes primarily from its investments. The endowment originated from combined legacies of Major Alfred Allnatt and Ron Diggens. The endowment was worth £138 million at the end of March 2022. They have moved their endowment into ethical/sustainable investment funds including Baillie Gifford Positive Change, Impax Environmental Markets, Liontrust Sustainable Future Global Growth, Montanaro Better World, Schroders Global Sustainable Growth, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

LankellyChase Foundation is an independent UK charitable foundation that distributes grants and is in the process of redistributing its entire £138 million endowment to communities by 2028. Its core work centres on the Transition Pathway initiative, alongside direct grant-making, the Living Wage Friendly Funder programme, and collaborative place-based social justice networks such as LocalMotion. The foundation does not sell commercial products; its 'offering' is the redistribution of philanthropic capital to grassroots organisations and communities facing severe and multiple disadvantage in the UK.

Product overview

LankellyChase Foundation operates as a single integrated charitable mission rather than a platform-plus-modules structure. The foundation's primary 'product' is its Transition Pathway initiative—a systematic process to redistribute its endowment assets to communities by 2028. Supporting offerings include the Living Wage Friendly Funder Program (a grant-making policy supporting living wages in the charity sector), participation in the LocalMotion collaborative network for place-based change, and the Legacy Archive (a public knowledge resource documenting their institutional learning). The foundation also produces publications and research on systems change, severe and multiple disadvantage, and social justice approaches. No commercial technology products or SaaS offerings exist.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Transition Pathway LankellyChase's strategic initiative to redistribute all foundation assets to communities by 2028, creating space to reimagine how wealth, capital and social justice can co-exist in service of all life.
• LocalMotion A social justice network in which LankellyChase participates as a funding partner, supporting place-based community-led change across six locations in England and Wales (Carmarthen, Enfield, Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Oldham, and Torbay).
• Living Wage Friendly Funder Program Accredited scheme whereby LankellyChase supports grant partners to pay the Living Wage, encouraging accredited employers and helping smaller organisations with accreditation fees.
• Legacy Archive Open-access resource documenting LankellyChase's 15 years of learning, including innovations, tensions, and reflections on their journey and transition process.

Quantifiable outcome

• Full endowment redistribution by 2028
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• LocalMotioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2024LocalMotion is a social justice network that Lankelly Chase co-founded with five other UK foundations (City Bridge Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Tudor Trust). The network operates in six places (Carmarthen, Enfield, Lincoln, Middlesbrough, Oldham, Torbay) working to devolve power to communities. Secured £18.4 million investment until 2031.
• Baobab FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2023In solidarity with Baobab Foundation's network of radical friendship and solidarity, Lankelly Chase moved £8m of capital (6% of endowment) to the Baobab Foundation. The Baobab Foundation has built a network for resources to move in ways that support freedom, justice and unity.
• Transition Resource CircleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe term 'Transition Pathway' honours the work and vision of colleagues at the Transition Resource Circle.
• UK Foundation SectorcoreOthersLankelly Chase aims to inform and equip others—charities, wealth-holders and foundations—to move beyond the limits of traditional institutional philanthropy. They note that UK foundations hold nearly £90 billion and aim to create blueprints for redistributing this wealth differently.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• City Bridge Foundation: London-based grantmaking charity tackling disadvantage and inequality. LocalMotion co-funder with LankellyChase; both focus on social justice through place-based funding.
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation: UK foundation supporting social justice, education, and arts. Co-funder of LocalMotion with LankellyChase and operates similar place-based, community-empowerment programmes.
• Tudor Trust: UK foundation supporting smaller charities and community-led organisations. LocalMotion co-funder with overlapping theory of change around community empowerment.
• Friends Provident Foundation: UK foundation funding economic justice, environmental sustainability, and migration. Comparable independent grantmaker with similar mission-driven, place-based approach.
• Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust: UK Quaker-rooted trust funding social change and progressive causes. Comparable reform-minded UK grantmaker with similar values and pursuit of systemic change.
• Lloyds Bank Foundation: UK foundation supporting charities working with people in vulnerable circumstances. LocalMotion co-funder; both address severe and multiple disadvantage through community-based interventions.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: Major UK grantmaking foundation focused on social change, environmental sustainability, and creative inclusion. Co-funder of LocalMotion alongside LankellyChase with overlapping strategies and beneficiary communities.
• Barrow Cadbury Trust: UK foundation focused on social justice, particularly reducing the criminalisation of disadvantaged groups. Operates similar UK place-based, systems-change grantmaking model.
• Baobab Foundation: UK foundation focused on reparative, solidarity-based resource redistribution. Directly comparable as it has received £8m from LankellyChase and operates on radical, non-traditional philanthropy principles.

Regional players

• UK Community Foundations: UK network of 47 accredited community foundations distributing local philanthropy. Closely comparable as LankellyChase's place-based LocalMotion model aligns with community foundation principles at a national scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/lankellychase
• Xx.com/lankellychase
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-lankellychase-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LankellyChase Foundation