Philanthropy, fairness and democracy: the Attlee Foundation Lecture

Sir Stuart Etherington, our Chief Executive, gave the 30th annual lecture of the Attlee Foundation yesterday evening (8 November) on the subject of "Philanthropy, fairness and democracy".

Talking to an audience of charitable donors and beneficiaries, Sir Stuart stressed the importance of giving and philanthropy in today’s world where demographic and social change is happening at a rapid rate.

Looking to the future, he suggested that the role of philanthropy is to ‘mind the gap’ between the state, the market and the individual. Philanthropy should be focussed on innovation, to prime new ideas and services that the state and market cannot. 

NCVO and CAF recently spearheaded the successful Give it Back George campaign to reverse Government tax on charitable giving.

The Attlee Foundation is a charity established to realise former Prime Minister Clement Attlee’s vision for a fair and equal society. Attlee’s experience in the voluntary sector was a major influence on his later life.

Read the full speech (PDF, 202 KB).