Philanthropy - Lord Ashcroft

“Those who can afford to help others have a moral duty to do so.”

Lord Ashcroft has donated tens of millions of pounds to numerous charities, including good causes specialising in crime prevention, education and child protection. He wishes that many more wealthy businessmen would do the same. “In the past, successful entrepreneurs funded schools and hospitals, public parks and libraries. We need to rekindle that spirit,” he says. In 2013, Lord Ashcroft signed up to The Giving Pledge: a commitment by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

In May 2013, Lord Ashcroft signed up to The Giving Pledge: a commitment by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy, either during or after their lives.

It was founded in 2010 when 40 US billionaires went public with their promise. Since then, dozens of others have signed up to the cause and, early in 2013, it was decided that The Giving Pledge would expand its reach globally. On May 6 2013, it was formally announced that Lord Ashcroft’s name had been added to the list of generous individuals – including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg – who had already put their names to the cause. Lord Ashcroft said: “I take enormous pleasure from giving something back to society and to making a positive difference to other people’s lives. I feel honoured to put my name to The Giving Pledge and to sharing such a worthwhile commitment with like-minded people”. Lord Ashcroft, a self-made businessman, has never been a great believer in inherited wealth. After his death, his family will be trustees of a foundation set up in his name to support worthy causes. Read Lord Ashcroft’s article for The Sunday Telegraph explaining his commitment to The Giving Pledge.

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Launched in 1988 by Lord Ashcroft, Crimestoppers UK was founded in the wake of the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the Tottenham riots. Initially called the Community Action Trust, the charity started as a partnership between the business community, the police and the media. The purpose was, and still is, to encourage members of the public with information on crime to come forward anonymously, without the fear of their identity ever being revealed.

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Lord Ashcroft founded ADT City Technology College in south-west London in September 1991, one of few state-funded independent schools at the time. Today it provides free education for more than 1,400 inner city children of all abilities and backgrounds.

The school’s conversion in 2007 to the Ashcroft Technology Academy (ATA), as part of the Government-backed academy programme, has enabled it to continue building on the highly successful reputation of ADT College. The conversion and associated works to upgrade and develop the facilities at ATA cost £15 million.

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Lord Ashcroft was Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University from 2001 to 2020, during which time he donated a total of £10 million towards an international business school bearing his name which has buildings on two Anglia Ruskin University campuses, at Chelmsford and Cambridge.

He made the donations because he wanted to encourage young people to have the chance to succeed in the world of business. With his donations, the environment and facilities for business students at the Chelmsford and Cambridge campuses were greatly enhanced. The Lord Ashcroft International Business School Building on the Chelmsford campus was officially opened by HRH The Earl of Wessex in 2003.

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In November 2013 – on Armistice Day – Lord Ashcroft unveiled a new website giving details of his collection of Victoria Crosses (VCs), Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious gallantry award for bravery in the presence of the enemy.

Over the past three decades, Lord Ashcroft has purchased more than 200 VCs, making it the largest collection of its kind in the world. The new website provides a mass of information about each VC and its recipient.

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In November 2010 the Lord Ashcroft Gallery opened at the Imperial War Museum in London.

The £5 million gallery, funded by Lord Ashcroft, houses the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition, containing his collection of Victoria Crosses, the largest in the world. The awards, which range from the Crimean to the Falklands wars, are on public display along with Lord Ashcroft’s smaller collection of George Crosses, and also VCs and GCs in the care of the IWM. The VC is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious award for bravery in the presence of the enemy; and the GC is Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious award for bravery not in the presence of the enemy.

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The Bomber Command Memorial was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in central London in July 2012. It commemorates the air crews of RAF Bomber Command and their repeated bravery during the Second World War.

Lord Ashcroft made a £1 million commitment to the £7 million appeal for the new memorial because he wanted it built while some war veterans, then in their 80s and 90s, were still alive. Even now the fund-raising for the memorial in Green Park, central London, is ongoing because of the need to maintain the monument.

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Lord Ashcroft is a Trustee of the Cleveland Clinic, a leading health care innovator since 1921.

During its first century, Cleveland Clinic introduced many medical firsts and opened facilities around the world.

It now has more than 65,000 caregivers worldwide and almost 6 million patient visits per year, at more than 200 locations.

Ranked among the top hospitals in the US, its mission continues to be caring for life, researching for health, and educating those who serve.

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Lord Ashcroft is the Vice-President of the Intelligence Corps Museum, which was opened in its present form in 2005 and is now known as the Military Intelligence Museum.

The Museum tells the story of British military intelligence from the Boer War onwards and reveals the tactics, techniques and equipment used by the people who have carried out vitally important tasks over the years, often in secret, and with courage and determination.

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Lord Ashcroft is a Life Governor of the Royal Humane Society, a charity that awards people for acts of bravery in the saving of human life and for effecting successful resuscitations.

Founded in London in 1774, it became apparent that people were putting their own lives in danger rescuing others and awards were given in recognition of these acts of bravery.

Since its foundation, the Royal Humane Society’s committee has reviewed over 88,000 cases and made well over 200,000 awards.

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Lord Ashcroft believes those who have risked and sometimes given their lives carrying out courageous acts must be remembered. He champions gallantry in newspaper/magazine articles, books, blogs, television documentaries, short films, interviews and lectures.

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Lord Ashcroft campaigns vigorously on wildlife issues. He commissioned two undercover investigations into captive-bred lion “farming” in South Africa. His book, Unfair Game, published in June 2020, detailed his findings, along with his calls for cruel and sometimes illegal practices to be halted. In 2007, he intervened to try to prevent the Japanese government from overturning the ban on whale hunting. In conjunction with the Environmental Investigations Agency, a campaigning organisation, he commissioned a major advertising campaign to persuade six small Caribbean nations not to support Japan’s moves. In 2018, Lord Ashcroft highlighted the problems of rhino poaching when he sponsored a project for military veterans in South Africa. In 2020, he wrote a major newspaper article criticising Norway, one of the world’s richest countries, for continuing to hunt whales.

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Other Charities

Lord Ashcroft has taken on numerous key roles in a wide range of charities and good causes. He is a former Patron of the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre, a former Trustee of Imperial War Museums and a former President of the West India Committee. In 2016, Lord Ashcroft was made Knight Grand Cross of the Most Sacred Order of the Holy Trinity (Ethiopia) and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In 2017, he was made a Senior Fellow of the International Strategic Studies Association and in 2021 he was promoted to Grand Collar of the Most Sacred Order of the Holy Trinity (Ethiopia).

Significant support has also been given by Lord Ashcroft in the UK to the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, the Disability Foundation, RAFT (the Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust), Diabetes UK, Stroke Association, the Cliff Richard Tennis Foundation and, in the US, to The Carter Center.

Lord Ashcroft also supports education, health, arts and sports charities in the Caribbean and Central America through the Michael A Ashcroft Foundation. In 1993, he endowed The Ashcroft School in the British West Indies, now called The International School of the Turks and Caicos Islands.