Scott Trust Unveils 2026-2030 Phase of Guardian's Slavery Reparations Plan, Boosting Hanover Support

The owner of the Guardian newspaper has set out the next stage of a decade-long restorative justice plan aimed at confronting and making amends for the publication's historical ties to transatlantic enslavement.

The Scott Trust first launched its Legacies of Enslavement programme in 2023, openly recognising that the founder of the Manchester Guardian and his financial backers had drawn profit from the enslavement of African people in Jamaica and the United States.

Three years into the initiative, the trust says it has recorded "significant progress", citing hundreds of community engagement sessions, broader Guardian reporting on the global Black diaspora, and programmes designed to widen media diversity.

Covering 2026 to 2030, the new plan builds on those early commitments and lays out how the trust intends to keep pursuing restorative justice and tangible repair.

Over the coming four years, the Scott Trust will channel several million pounds sterling into priorities identified by descendant communities in Hanover, Jamaica, and the US Sea Islands, working through partnerships with community-led organisations and institutions.

The focus areas include broadening access to quality education and skills training, defending community rights to land and property, financing economic and climate justice work, hosting community dialogues on repair and healing, and safeguarding cultural heritage while honouring the memory of those who were enslaved.

Ahmed Reid and Angel Parson have been brought on as programme managers to drive the Guardian's work in Jamaica and the US Sea Islands respectively. They join Keisha Thompson, who was named programme manager for Manchester in September 2024. The team, headed by Ebony Riddell Bamber, has hosted open town hall sessions in the US Sea Islands and Jamaica, and consulted with community members, reparations specialists, civil society groups and institutions.

In Jamaica, the programme is currently helping the Hanover community with rebuilding work following Hurricane Melissa. In Manchester, the city where the Guardian was founded, preparations are under way for a major exhibition examining the city's links to cotton and enslavement. The exhibition, developed alongside the Science and Industry Museum, is scheduled to open in early 2027, with grassroots groups also being convened to support wider efforts.

The next phase will see the publication of new academic research, fresh efforts to raise awareness of Britain's role in transatlantic enslavement and its lasting effects, and stronger accountability through Guardian journalism and the Cotton Capital series.

This follows three years of progress that have included the appointment of eight new correspondents covering east and west Africa, the Caribbean and South America, alongside expanded race, health and community affairs teams in the UK and US. The trust also points to the debut of the Long Wave, a weekly newsletter on Black life and culture worldwide, and the growth of bursary and traineeship schemes across the UK, US and Australia to broaden media diversity.

Ole Jacob Sunde, chair of the Scott Trust, said: "The Scott Trust is deeply committed to this programme of restorative justice. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the journey so far. We are grateful to the descendant communities in Jamaica, the US and UK who have taken the time to share with us how we can make a meaningful impact in this next phase of the programme. I look forward to the work ahead."

Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, said: "This work has widened the lens of the Guardian's journalism, diversified our team around the world and amplified stories from underrepresented communities and regions. As we enter this next phase of the plan, our focus is on making changes that are meaningful, significant and long-lasting to the lives of those affected."

The Guardian is also bringing back its Cotton Capital newsletter, which will examine legacies of enslavement and reparative justice across the world on a monthly basis.

A special free live event is being staged by the Guardian on Thursday 2 July at 7.30pm BST, exploring the programme's progress and challenges, with contributions from reparatory justice experts and practitioners on how a news organisation can reckon with a history bound up in transatlantic enslavement.

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