BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Lenkiewicz Foundation [TLF] was established formally in the mid 1990s (and registered as a charity in 1997) Its main objectives are to own and care for the collection of paintings, books, notebooks and artefacts previously owned by Robert Lenkiewicz, to provide a permanent and safe home for these collections and to ensure that these are accessible to the public and available for study and other educational purposes in perpetuity.

Lenkiewicz had made a plan in the early 1990’s to donate his books & paintings to TLF because he wanted to protect them from the dissolution he envisaged would come after his death & preserve them together to be available for study in the city…. “for the provocation of thought”. The processes that needed to be achieved for this donation to occur included TLF acquiring premises and being able to support this substantial gift. As a ‘back stop’ plan, Lenkiewicz’ bequeathed his paintings & books to TLF. In the event, Lenkiewicz died in 2002 before the donation occurred.

TLF still [2007] does not have adequate premises. The Trustees would like [ideally] to acquire premises on the Barbican, to house the legacy and then to open these to the public as a new resource for the people of the Region and also as an attraction for the City of Plymouth. However, following Lenkiewicz death in 2002 and the huge expenses of administering the Estate, what will remain from the collections when the administration is complete is unclear.

BRIEF HISTORY

TLF was set up in 1993/4 [by a group of committed people [all volunteers] and achieved Charitable Status in 1997. It has a Board of Trustees that meets six times a year.

TLF made a successful bid to the Single Regeneration Budget in 1995 and appointed a Project Manager in January 1996. A bid was then made to European Regional Development Fund [ERDF], Conver which was not successful.

An architect was appointed and plans for restoration of the main Lenkiewicz Studios [on The Parade] were drawn up. Subsequently, planning permission was given. This was preparatory work for the acquisition of the Studio which was a key objective and planned as part of the forthcoming bid. We appointed a part time Project Secretary [Administrator] in October 1997.

A bid to Heritage Lottery was made in 1997 and was unsuccessful but could have been revised and re-submitted.  A parallel bid was made to the European Regional Development Fund [objective 2] in August 1997 and was sent out for evaluation by the Government Office South West [GOSW] at the end of the year. The recommendations [dated July 1998] were that a review was needed, a fresh business plan could then be prepared and a new funding application could then be submitted. Plymouth City Council [PCC] agreed to assist.

TLF’s Project Manager left in January 1999 at the same time as the SRB funding was ended. TLF therefore needed to form a closer working relationship with Plymouth as it could no longer fund a Project Manager from its own resources. Steve Snooks from the Department of Lifelong Learning of PCC took on the Project Manager’s job at that time. Steve was not able to devote time to the task and it became quickly apparent that a ‘real’ PM was urgently needed. Annie Hill-Smith [AH-S], at that time Chair of the Board of Trustees, performed a management role in a part time voluntary capacity.

The Foundation moved from its Parman House offices [on the Barbican] to the City Museum Annexe in August 1999.  In July 2002 it was invited to move to The Annexe, the premises used by Fisher McKenzie, the partnership that creates limited edition prints of Lenkiewicz work. Trustees wanted to be based on the Barbican and needed more space & accepted this invitation.

The Heritage Lottery had stated that a more accurate picture of the gift that Lenkiewicz was making to TLF was needed. In August ’99, cataloguing of the Library began so that this could be achieved and also, so that TLF could provide an account of the gift for legal purposes. The SRB were re-approached for a contribution to this cost which was agreed & that stage of the cataloguing was completed in April/May 2000 with the production of a catalogue. As part of this enumerating process & to assist the Business Planning process, a catalogue of the paintings that were to have constituted the gift was also made by Francis Mallet.

PCC and TLF formalised their joint working on this project with a Heads of Terms Agreement which was signed in mid March 2000 by the then Leader [Tudor Evans] and by TLF’s Chair. In June 2000, following local elections, a new Leader, Patrick Nicholson, visited the project and was shown around the library Robert had been creating at St Saviours Church. AH-S asked him to consider donating the church to The Foundation and this was formally agreed early in 2002 but the legal hand-over has not been completed.

In August 2002 Robert died and the Executor of his Estate discovered a complex situation with many liabilities as well as many assets but no cash. Additionally, the Executor was deluged with claims against the Estate from a wide assortment of creditors. The Foundation launched its 'Friends' scheme. The application that it made to the Lottery at that time was not successful.

The Executor of the Estate held two major auctions in 2003, one of paintings and one of books. These raised over a million pounds for the Estate. In 2004, the Executor held another large sale [raising over a million] to raise yet more funds to help defray the very considerable and still mounting costs of administering this complex estate.

The Trustees of TLF are now faced with the Executor’s need to raise still more funds to discharge the Estate’s liabilities and thus the very real risk that its legacy will be totally dispersed. The dissolution that Lenkiewicz feared. Even when creditors and administration expenses are paid, the net Estate will then be subject to claims made under the 1975 Provision for Dependents Act. If TLF could raise substantial funds it could purchase assets as the Executor sells them. As it is, paintings are being sold and Trustees can do nothing about this.

STRUCTURE

There are three separate entities:

• The Lenkiewicz Foundation
• Barbican Rooms Ltd
• The Lenkiewicz Foundation Trust

The Lenkiewicz Foundation Ltd is a Company, limited by guarantee, and is also a registered charity. People who may be felt to have skills or other qualities that would complement the Board may be invited to express an interest in being a Trustee or may approach Trustees directly. Usually we ask potential Trustees to come to a meeting and talk to us before putting the matter to a vote.  We look for people who have specific things to offer but we also have discovered that willingness to be ‘team players’ and to make a creative contribution are vital. Most important of all is that new Trustees, although bringing their own ‘stuff’, should be totally dedicated to our objectives.

Barbican Rooms Ltd is the ‘Trading Arm’ of TLF and is not a Charity but is a Company, limited by guarantee. It raises money by trading and then covenants money to TLF [which cannot itself raise money except directly in furtherance of its aims]. All of the Trustees [Directors] of TLF are also Directors of Barbican Rooms.

The Lenkiewicz Foundation Trust is a registered charity but not a company. Its sole Trustee is The Lenkiewicz |Foundation. It was set up, at the outset, in order to own the books and specific paintings and its articles of association and aims do not allow its capital value to be decreased.