12 October 2020
The Baring Foundation is very sad to announce the death on 6th October of Lord Ashburton, formerly John Baring.
As recorded in his obituaries, Lord Ashburton was a towering figure in the business world, as well as having in later years created Grange Park Opera.
However, his contribution to civil society was also hugely important and has been less recognised. As set out in his Foreword to our publication, A History of the Baring Foundation in Fifty Grants, it was his idea to set up the Baring Foundation as a corporate foundation and he was one of the signatories at our inception. He later became a long-serving Chair of the Foundation including in a tumultuous period, during which the Foundation became one of the largest private sources of funding for the voluntary sector, and, with the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 then needed to rapidly transition into an independent foundation, with much reduced income but a sharper role and sense of purpose.
Everyone at the Foundation would like to extend their sincere condolences to Lord Ashburton’s family and friends and to record our appreciation for his leadership and seminal contribution to our charity.
