The York Friends Central Adult Central Trust has now closed, and its endowment will now be administered by the York Community Fund https://www.tworidingscf.org.uk/fund/york-community-fund/
At a meeting on 13 July 2023, York Area Quakers approved the intention of the Trustees of the York Friends Central Adult School Trust (YFCAST) to close the Trust and transfer the endowment to the York Community Fund.
The York Community Fund, which brings together a number of donors in the city including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, provides a lasting and sustainable source of support for York’s voluntary and community sector. The fund, which is administered by the Two Ridings Community Foundation, feels an appropriate vehicle for achieving YFCAST’s objectives into the future, especially at a time of such difficulty within the voluntary and community sector as a whole. Being part of the wider York Community Fund means issues can be addressed much more systemically, and its grants will be informed by the collective wisdom of the Fund and its grassroots participatory grant-making decision process.
The York Community’s Fund’s overarching funding priorities, which match Quaker principles of equity and social justice, are:
True to historic principles of Quaker funding, YFCAST Trustees have requested that the YFCAST funds will give particular priority to tackling unpopular issues or addressing the root causes of inequality and injustice.
YFCAST began life in 1927, and so this closure brings to an end a long history of supporting a wide range of communities within York. The Trustees feel confident that its legacy lives on in the York Community Fund.
The trust (more fully: The York Friends Central Adult School Trust ) has its roots in the adult school movement, which began in many areas of Britain in the nineteenth century and was closely linked to Quakers.
The schools combined the teaching of reading and writing for adults with bible study. They were pioneered in the city by local Quakers, including members of the Rowntree family, from 1848 on.
By 1906 the schools had over two thousand members in the city, and the work had spread to include other educational and leisure activities such as a library, allotments, interest groups and a social club. (You’ll find more information about the York Adult Schools on the Rowntree Society website.)
With improvements in public educational provision in the twentieth century, the adult schools were wound up and their properties sold.
With residual income from the assets of the York adult schools, the Trust continued until 2025, to support educational aims in a broad sense.
All enquiries to:
The former Trustees of the York Friends Central Adult School Trust, Friargate, York YO1 9RL