Allen Lane Foundation       

Home Page

Annual Lectures

Every year the Foundation hosts a lecture in memory of Sir Allen Lane.  Past lecturers have included Mary Robinson, former President of the Irish Republic, The Bishop of Oxford the Rt.Rev Richard Harries and The Rt. Hon. Frank Field MP.

Since 1999 the text of the lecture each year will be published here.  Please see the links below

The 2009 lecture was given by Kathleen Duncan OBE on Wednesday 29th April at the Ismaili Centre in London. It was very well-attended and an extremely thought-provoking and enjoyable occasion. You can read the published text below.

Kathleen Duncan OBE  Hard Times but Great Expectations – The Current Financial Climate and The Third Sector 2009 lecture

The Rt. Hon. Frank Field MP  Acceptable Behaviour Contracts for the Super Rich 2008.htm

(The Foundation did not hold a lecture in 2007.)

Clare Morpurgo   Allen Lane, the man and his Foundation 2006 Lecture

Julia Unwin  Dissent, Independence and Risk - the challenge for independent grant-making trusts 2005.htm

Luke FitzHerbert  The Challenge of Endowment (2004) 2004.htm

Ben Whitaker  Opportunity and Responsibility  How do we best use limited resources in grant-making (2002)2002.htm

(The 2001 lecture was given by Helen Bamber, founder of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture. Helen spoke from the heart and there is no text to publish.)

Richard Stone   Do "People like us" get the best out of grants (2000) 2000.htm

Steven Burkeman    An Unsatisfactory Company...?" (1999) 1999.htm