Cadbury's history, Miliband and the Archbishop of Canterbury

Last week my family heritage and political present unexpectedly came together with comments from two national leaders, and a book launch,.  Ed Miliband used George Cadbury's business philosophy as a role model for his economic vision, in his major speech in Birmingham. And in the week of his installation, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, referred to the Cadbury's "who have a deep sense of social utility and social value" in a TV interview.

It was a complete coincidence that in the same week I was celebrating one of the tangible results of this legacy.  The Barrow Cadbury Trust,of which I have been Chair for the past six years, launched a book of our history subtitled "Constancy and Change in Quaker Philanthrophy". 

The Trust was founded by my great-grandparents, Barrow (George's nephew) and Geraldine Cadbury who sought to address issues such as poverty, injustice, and a failing penal system.

A good example of how the Trust's history shapes our present is the Transition to Adulthood Alliance.   Initiated in 2008, T2Ais a coalition of voluntary and public sector partners working to improve the life chances of young adults in the criminal justice system.  We are now seeing how that work has influenced UK Justice policy and practice under the last and present Government, seeing how young adults are supported in alternatives to, and on release from, custody.
But our involvement in solutions, and particularly in criminal justice, is not new.  It stems from the passion of my great grandparents who believed that poverty could only be addressed through challenging the status quo.  They sought to distance themselves from the traditional Victorian philanthropists and felt that any solution to the problems of the poor in Birmingham depended on the work of central and local Government to improve housing, education and health care.  Geraldine, with others, founded the world's fist Childrens Court - in Birmingham.  Barrow and Geraldine used their own money to build and staff it.  She worked effectively as an unpaid probation officer - cataloging and understanding the home circumstances of all the young people.  In her later years she spent much of her time traveling to London, exhausting herself on Home Office Committees, working to ensure a more just system of justice of vulnerable children - she was, in the Quaker way, speaking Truth to Power.

For 10 years the Trust office has been in London - so that we can continue to access and influence the decision-makers, but we spend a significant proportion of our money in Birmingham and the Black Country.

It's a privilege and a responsibility, as Barrow and Geraldine's descendents, to steward the organisation.  I've found reading the book inspiring and fascinating, some of the stories are familiar, many are new to me.


NB:
Nick Pierce's Blog on the book and the links to current social and economic challenges is excellent.