The objective of the Helston Downsland Charity (HDC) is to benefit the inhabitants of the Parish of Helston.

It does this through sharing funds raised from investments, which are given out as grants.

In 2022 the Helston Downsland Charity adopted its first Investment Policy Statement with the goal of reducing negative impacts locally and globally associated with the investment portfolio.  Although this led to some improvements in our ethical profile, the board were not satisfied that it went far enough - particularly as funds that had been moved away from direct investment in companies that cause social and environmental harm - such as Shell and BP - were instead moved into the banking sector, with the majority of banks funding the same activities we are trying to avoid.

In 2024 the board agreed to complete a piece of work with support of an organisation called "Mothertree" https://www.mymothertree.com/  to enable us to do our utmost to ensure that funds invested on behalf of the Helston Downland Charity and the Parish of Helston are a force for good, locally and globally.
That work is underway and we hope to be able to feed back on our progress by the beginning of the summer 2024.

Helston Downsland Charity recognises its responsibilities to the current and future inhabitants of Helston, the Parish environment, and the wider world and this is reflected in how we are changing the way in which our Charity funds are invested.

For example, carbon emissions associated with fossil fuel use and carbon intensive industries such as cement manufacture are responsible for climate change. This impacts on our local communities and ecosystems in many ways (1), but one example would be through increased extreme weather events (such as the heat waves in 2022) which impact negatively on the health of our entire community (2,3,4).

The Helston Downsland Charity board of trustees are proud to be working towards investing more responsibly, and we hope that our actions encourage other investors to consider how they can maximise the positive impact of their investments – not just for their beneficiary communities, but for the wider global community and future of all living things.

The Investment Policy Statement will be reviewed at regular intervals, as will the holdings that result from its implementation, to continue the work towards achieving the most responsible investment stance possible.  As part of this process, the HDC will publish it’s portfolio quarterly.