Registration no. 1046814 | Area served England and Wales | |
Focus Paying the National Debt | ||
The National Fund is a British charity whose purpose is to pay off the final amount of the United Kingdom national debt.
The fund was set up in 1928 with a £500,000 anonymous donation. It has been suggested that the donor pledged the money as a response to a 1919 Financial Times editorial by then-Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stanley Baldwin, which suggested patriotic rich citizens to voluntarily contribute towards paying the national debt accumulated from World War I.
The fund, which is managed by Barclays, is worth £351.4m as of February 2013. As of February 2012, it was the United Kingdom's 29th richest charity.
Since 2009, Barclays has been trying to release the funds. The donor stipulated that part of the funds to be released if "in [the trustees] opinion at any time or times national exigencies [should] require".