The £100 million ($194m) earmarked by the Church of England for a new investment fund to help repair damage caused by its historic links to slavery is “not enough”, a report says. Source: BBC News.
It comes after an investigation last year found the Church had invested large amounts of money into a company that transported tens of thousands of slaves.
The Church welcomed the report by the Church Commissioners charity, released yesterday, and accepted its recommendations but would not commit to raising the fund to the report’s £1 billion ($1.9b) target.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the report was “the beginning of a multi-generational response” to the “appalling evil” of slavery.
Archbishop Welby previously called the report’s interim findings a “source of shame”.
The report also reiterated calls for the Church to fully acknowledge its involvement in the slave trade, after the Archbishop said he was “deeply sorry for the links” in 2022.
Money from the new fund should be invested in black-led businesses focusing on education, economic empowerment and better health outcomes, the report added.
The oversight group behind the report has been looking into the history of the Church’s investment fund, which in the 18th Century was known as Queen Anne’s Bounty.
At that time, it had investments worth £406,942 ($792,000) in the South Sea Company. This is potentially equivalent to about £724,000 ($1.4m) today’s money.
The company transported 34,000 slaves in crowded, unsafe and inhumane conditions over a 30-year period.
A spokesperson said the Church would not raise its fund to £1bn ($1.9bn), but that the £100m ($194m) was seen as a “seed investment”, which they hope will “grow over time”.
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Church fund ‘not enough’ to right slavery wrongs (By Nathan Standley and Adina Campbell, BBC News)
