The National Fund

The National Fund
Registration no. 1046814
Focus Paying the National Debt
Area served
England and Wales

The National Fund is a British charity whose purpose is to pay off the final amount of the United Kingdom national debt.[1]

The fund was set up in 1928 with a £500,000 anonymous donation. It has been suggested that the donor pledged the money as a response to a 1919 Financial Times editorial by then-Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stanley Baldwin, which suggested patriotic rich citizens to voluntarily contribute towards paying the national debt accumulated from World War I.[2][3]

The fund, which is managed by Barclays, is worth £351.4m as of February 2013.[1][4] As of February 2012, it was the United Kingdom's 29th richest charity.[5]

Since 2009, Barclays has been trying to release the funds.[3] The donor stipulated that part of the funds to be released if "in [the trustees] opinion at any time or times national exigencies [should] require".[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "1046814 - THE NATIONAL FUND". Charity Commission.
  2. ↑ "A £350m Donation To Nation That Can't Be Used". Sky News. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Masters, Brooke. "Anonymous bequest to nation worth £350m sits untouched since 1928". The Financial Times. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Anonymous £350m fund stuck in legal limbo". BBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "How should the government use the National Fund?". BBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
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