Garfield Weston Foundation

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The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity, based in the United Kingdom.

Established in 1958[1] by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898-1978),[2] who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes both personally and through his companies. His philanthropic works continue through the Garfield Weston Foundation in London and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation in Toronto, Canada. The Garfield Weston Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world, with assets of £3,720 million at 5 April 2008, of which £3,620 million was attributed to the foundation's majority holding in Wittington Investments Limited.

Projects

In March 2013, it was announced that Toronto parks could be seeing a $5 million boost from the Foundation in a three-year program.[3]

Controversies over political donations

In 2010, the Charity commission found that between 1993 and 2004 the Charity had given donations to the UK Conservative Party that totaled £900,000, which constituted a breaches of UK Charity Law, as were similar donations to the right-wing think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, as well as to other right-wing Eurosceptic European political lobby groups such as the European Foundation and the Labour Euro-Safeguards Campaign.[4]

Tax avoidance controversy

In 2011, companies owned by Wittington Investments Limited were targeted over tax avoidance by the protest group UK Uncut. Private Eye linked the Garfield Weston foundation's illegal political donations with the Conservative Party's decision to grant tax breaks for the kind of offshore arrangements used in the tax avoidance.

References

  1. ↑ "£25 million gift from Garfield Weston Foundation". Oxford Thinking. Retrieved 20 March 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Weston foundation makes donation to Riverdale Farm". CP24. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 
  3. ↑ "City parks get $5 million boost from Garfield Weston Foundation". Inside Toronto. Retrieved 9 April 2013. 
  4. ↑ The Times, 12 April 2010, Westons breached charity law over Tory donations

External links


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