U.K. foundations plan spend out.

London -- "Spend outs" may be the new trend among charitable foundations in the U.K. At least six charitable trusts are planning to spend themselves out of existence, the Association of Charitable Foundations reports. A "spend out" is a rare move for a charitable foundation anywhere in the Commonwealth countries or the U.S.A.

The first to announce, Yet Four Acres Trust, intends to spend 25m [pounds sterling] ($51.7 CAD) over the next 10 years on fighting poverty. The trust's founder, John Bothamely, believes that giving away all of its money will make a bigger impact sooner. "Prevention is better than cure and investment now will, hopefully, give vulnerable children a better start in life and the chance to make the most of their chances," he says. "To do this, we need to make a bigger upfront investment."

A much larger trust, Atlantic Philanthropies, has billions of pounds which it will give away for aging, disadvantaged youth and human rights in the next 15 years. The founder, Charles Feeney, decided on a "giving while living" policy.

Britain has over 9500 charitable trusts.