Updating the Charity’s objectives: Your views sought

The trustees of the James Henry Green Charitable Trust (the ‘Charity’) are proposing to amend the charitable purposes of the Charity to bring them up to date and better reflect the Charity’s activities in the 21st century. 

The trustees of the Charity will need consent of the Charity Commission before these proposed changes become effective. 

History of the charity

The Charity was established in 1977 by Dorothy Green, the widow of the late James Henry Green (1893 – 1975), under the original name of the “Burma Rifles Charitable Trust”. The Charity was renamed to its current name in July 1993.   

The Charity owns the Green Collection, a collection of photographs and items relating to Burma which was collected by James Henry Green and his wife and gifted to the Charity.  

The trustees of the Charity, in collaboration with Dorothy Green during her lifetime, have cared for and displayed the Green Collection since the Charity was first established. While the Green Collection was first housed in the Greens’ own home and made available for public display there, since 1992 the Green Collection has been housed with the Brighton Museum and there is consequently a longstanding positive relationship between the Charity and the museum.  

The Green Collection is an academically and culturally significant collection – in 2024, a number of items were loaned to the British Museum to display as part of its “Burma to Myanmar” exhibition. 

Current purposes 

The Charity’s purposes have not been changed since it was first established in 1977 and are now considerably out of date.

The purposes are: 

“…advancing the education of the public by establishing and maintaining in accordance with this Deed a public Museum or place for the storing and exhibition of articles papers books and pictures relating to the history races languages customs and religions of Burma…” 

Proposed new purposes 

The current purposes reflect a narrow vision for the Charity to establish and maintain a museum relating exclusively to Burma (now Myanmar).  Over the last five decades the landscape of the sector has changed significantly, and the trustees wish to update the Charity’s purposes to better reflect a 21st century approach to curatorship and education that centres the Green Collection within the appropriate historical and geographic context. 

The proposed new purposes for the Charity are: 

  1. To advance the education of the public through the conservation, storage, and maintenance of the Green Collection and making it available for research and public display (physically or online) primarily at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. 

    The Green Collection was assembled by Colonel James Henry Green and Mary Dorothy Green and is a collection of artefacts, documents, books and photographs relating to the history, cultures, languages and belief systems of Asia (including, but not limited to, Myanmar – formerly Burma);   

  2. To advance the education of the public in relation to world culture meaning heritage, culture, ethnography and the arts worldwide with a particular focus on Myanmar and its diasporas including but not exclusively by:  

    a) provision of grants and other support for museum exhibitions and collections, specifically to the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (to include core curatorial support for its World Art collection); and 

    b) provision of financial assistance in the form of grants, scholarships, bursaries and support for research and practice relating to museums, heritage and arts curation and the study of heritage, culture, arts and ethnography. 

These purposes have been formulated to honour the original founders’ intentions and retain the focus on Myanmar, but introduce greater scope for the Charity to advance education in relation to world culture more holistically including supporting future curators and researchers.  

World culture – as understood by the Charity - means the study of heritage, culture, ethnography and the arts worldwide. Noting the successful collaboration the Charity has had with Brighton Museum for over three decades now, the trustees consider that this museum continues to be the most appropriate place to house the Green Collection. It is therefore proposed that the new purposes of the Charity should make specific reference to the Brighton Museum.  

As well as the Green Collection, the Charity holds financial resources which could be better spent under the proposed new purposes. Activities and grant making that the Charity will be able to carry out under the proposed new purposes include: 

  • Supporting the World Art collection at the Brighton Museum; 

  • Grants to fund curatorial positions, primarily in World Art at Brighton Museum; 

  • Scholarships relating to the study of world culture; and 

  • Scholarships relating to museum studies and curation. 

As now, the new purposes will continue to ensure that the Green Collection is looked after for future generations and made available for research and public display. 

Consultation 

The stakeholder consultation on the revised objects of the James Henry Green Charitable Trust has now closed.

We are grateful for the comments that we received and are now making our final submission to the Charity Commission. Once the new objects have been approved, they will be published on this website.