The Church of England has committed £100m to a new fund to compensate for its historical benefit from the international slave trade. The money will be used to support projects “focused on improving opportunities for communities adversely impacted by historic slavery” and deliver a programme of investment, research and engagement over the next nine years.
The fund has been set up as a result of a report for the Church Commissioners, the body that manages the C of E’s £9bn-plus endowment fund. The origins of this fund have been traced partly partly to Queen Anne’s Bounty, a financial scheme established in 1704 based on transatlantic chattel slavery. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the report “lays bare the links of the Church Commissioners’ predecessor fund with transatlantic chattel slavery. I am deeply sorry for these links. It is now time to take action to address our shameful past.”
