Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd

Founded as the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust (JRSST), this trust was structured as a limited company to enable it to give funds to overtly political causes and to advance the non-charitable aspects of Joseph’s vision of society. Joseph’s concerns about journalistic standards and the power of the wealthy to influence public opinion through the press led to the Trust acquiring various national and regional liberal newspapers. In 1990 the Trust became the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (JRRT) and, although it has evolved and changed it’s focus, it maintains its links with Quakerism, liberalism and progressive politics. Commitment to political reform has been a key part of its focus from the beginning and today it is in the fields of democratic and political reform that the JRRT seeks to make a difference.