The Foundation’s Settlor, David Sainsbury, retired from ministerial office in November 2006. The Trustees are delighted that he has re-engaged with Gatsby’s grant-making and joined them in setting the priorities for the Foundation’s future.
That future is finite: in 2005 David Sainsbury declared his ambition to give away at least £1 billion in his lifetime, and in doing so to spend out Gatsby’s funds. So after 40 years of dynamic activity resulting in spending of £400 million, the pace of grant-making will quicken further. The Trustees are seeking still greater focus and energy in the Foundation’s work; this is a good moment to summarise their aspirations. Two areas of scientific research will remain at the heart of Gatsby’s endeavours, with considerable new ambitions and substantial new funding in prospect.
First, in the field of plant science, a new research laboratory is planned for a splendid site in Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden. As well as being an academic centre of international stature, the laboratory will be housed in a startlingly beautiful building. Meanwhile, the existing Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich will continue its successful and distinctive programmes of research into the molecular interactions between plants and pathogens.
Second, neuroscience in the UK will see substantial new spending. While the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London continues to make impressive progress, the Trustees expect their exploration of new possibilities to result in considerably larger-scale initiatives. Understanding the brain remains one of science’s great challenges, and at a time when technology opens a path to new breakthroughs, Gatsby wishes to make a significant contribution.
In Africa, while major philanthropic organisations are now beginning to operate on an impressive scale, the Trustees continue to believe in the value also of working through the relatively small local trusts they have nurtured over more than 15 years. The core of the work remains assisting small-scale farmers to improve agricultural productivity and equipping modest enterprises to take the early steps towards industrialisation. Within the trusts themselves the skills that Africa so desperately needs in management and governance continue to be steadily developed. But there is more to be done, particularly in generating investment funds that will allow local African enterprises with ideas and talent to grow.
Science and engineering education has long been a Gatsby priority, a crucial ingredient in stimulating the UK’s capacity for innovation and growth. The Trustees are looking to focus activity on four key areas: secondary school science teachers through innovative approaches to recruitment; professional development and curriculum resources; further education lecturers, through support for vocational courses, including the new 14–19 engineering diploma; and co-ordination of science education initiatives through partnerships with key organisations.
Over the past year or so, the Trustees have narrowed the focus of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health’s work. The priorities now are mental health in the criminal justice system and in the employment field. Both are difficult areas; but the Centre is making good headway by combining its research and advocacy skills with effective networking in policy circles.
The Foundation’s support for a select number of arts projects which have particular resonance with the Settlor’s immediate family is unwavering. Look no further than the upgrading of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, the renewed impetus to finding partnerships in Japan by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, and the injection of new academic talent into the Sainsbury Research Unit. At the same time the Royal Shakespeare Company’s redevelopment of its main Stratford theatre continues to attract the Trustees’ enthusiastic backing.
Outside these leading priorities, other programmes are soon to shrink gradually in importance. Gatsby’s work assisting organisations concerned with disadvantaged children has reached a stage where it will be timely for other funders to step forward. So having allotted itself a finite lifetime to spend substantial funds, the Foundation has now set itself clearer targets and moves forward with greater urgency. Across its chosen areas of interest everyone at Gatsby is more determined than ever to make a long-lasting difference.
Alan Bookbinder
November 2007