Runnymede Trust

The Runnymede Trust is a British race equality and civil rights think tank. It was founded by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, leading debate and policy engagement. The Trust began operations in 1968, the year of two major events in global and British race relations: the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech. Runnymede Trust has played a leading role in the UK's national debate around race, helping shape legislation including the 1971 and 19756 Race Relations Acts, introducing popular usage of the term "Islamophobia" with its 1996 Commission on British Muslims, and more recently its work informing civil society's debate of issues including the 2021 Sewell Report and the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. The Trust is led by its director and chief executive, Halima Begum, appointed in 2020. Its chairman is Sir Clive Jones.