​​Please sign this petition to urge the Secretary of State for Education to protect the governance and charitable funds of Archbishop Tenison’s School Foundation ("ATSF", Charity Number 312694). This matter has important implications for charity oversight, schools' funding, and the stewardship of public-benefit assets.

We ask the Secretary of State for Education not to approve an Education Endowment Order for ATSF’s assets, but to confirm that ATSF remains the proper steward of its endowments. 

What is happening

ATSF is an educational grant-making charitable foundation. It has supported schools for public benefit in London since the seventeenth century, sustained through careful and responsible management of investments and properties. 

The Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE) has applied for an "Education Endowment Order" following the closure of the academy school run by the SDBE Multi Academy Trust at 55 Kennington Oval, where ATSF owned the land. The SDBE's application requests that proceeds - part of ATSF’s historic endowments - are transferred away from the charity that has managed those assets for public good for generations. The application asks for the Order to transfer ATSF funds to Uniform Statutory Trusts managed by the SDBE for church schools elsewhere in the Southwark Diocese. 

Why this matters

ATSF is regulated by the Charity Commission, has stewarded endowments for centuries, and holds the funds in trust for education in Greater London. Some of its current and potential beneficiary schools and young people are outside the Southwark Diocese area.

Processes and principles for charity trustees to make decisions are transparent, clear and well established; trustees have legal duties and must consider public benefit and the best interests of the charity.

However, in this unusual situation, a statutory Education Endowment Order could transfer private assets from an established registered charity (ATSF), to another with different governance and different area of benefit, without the agreement of the trustees of the endowments.  

The decision is at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Education, who may choose whether or not to make an Education Endowment Order. We urge her not to make an Order in this case.