Proposed changes to Endowment terms

In 1916, the University of Leeds was the recipient of a charitable donation from Lord and Lady Cowdray for the endowment of a Chair in Spanish Language and Literature.

Two further charitable donations were received at about the same time from Mr Walter Morrison and Messrs C Semon & Co Ltd for the development of the Spanish department, which was new at the time. These two donations were combined with Lord and Lady Cowdray's gift.
 
Since 2013, there has been no Chair in Spanish Language and Literature and the University no longer has a distinct Spanish department. Instead, the department now sits within the School of Language Cultures and Societies. This has restricted the ability of the University to use the charitable funds for the purposes originally given.
 
Given the changes in the structure of modern foreign languages at the University of Leeds over the last 100 years, and the changes in tertiary education, we intend to make an application to the Charity Commission for its consent to amend the purposes of the funds mentioned above in order to allow the University to use those funds to provide grants to students who are studying for degrees in modern foreign languages, especially Spanish, and to cover the costs of the provision of teaching of modern foreign languages, especially Spanish, at the University of Leeds. The funds will continue to be used to develop the study of Spanish and Spanish-speaking countries and will enable the University to keep pace with the continuing developments in education.  
 
If you are a member of the Cowdray family, or are linked to the original donors of the three funds set out above in anyway, or if you have any comments regarding our proposals, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Please contact Gavin Robertson via artsfin@leeds.ac.uk.