While the Foundation’s Directors’ discretion is wide, their constitution requires them to mainly support charitable projects and activities in Scotland or those which benefit people who live here. There is a strong focus on community welfare, medical support and research, the arts, education and conservation.
The Trust is keen to support charities involved in one, or more, of the following areas:
- Activities relating to community healthcare services including home care, aftercare, sufferers of long-term medical conditions and the continuing care of disabled people.
- Health education and prevention – promoting knowledge and awareness of specific diseases or medical conditions.
- Research in preventative or curative medicine.
- Lifelong learning projects helping people of any age to achieve their educational potential through supplementary schools, literacy and numeracy projects, community education, vocational/restart education for the unemployed, and alternative education for excluded school pupils.
- Community development by helping groups to organise and respond to problems and needs in their communities.
- Social services including organisations assisting individuals or families to overcome social deprivation e.g. people who are homeless or disabled and their carers, single parent and childcare groups and other family support groups.
- Social preventive schemes covering activities which prevent crime, ‘dropping out’ and general delinquency, provide social care outreach services, deliver social health and safety awareness schemes.
- Community social activities which promote social engagement for vulnerable people, mitigating against isolation and loneliness.
- Artistic activities that are supportive of cultural enhancement in the community.
- Advancing public participation in a sport that involves physical skill and physical exertion.
When to apply
The Board meets three times a year (normally November, February and June).
Appeals may be submitted at any time throughout the year and will be put forward to the next scheduled meeting of the Board. In exceptional circumstances, the Treasurer has the discretion to make donations between meetings (up to the value of £5,000).
Please note
- The Foundation will not donate to activities that are generally the responsibility of the local health authority, education authority or similar body.
- The Foundation does not tend to support capital expenditure/development projects.
- The Foundation supports a range of sizes of charity, but tends to focus on smaller charities with lower reserves.
- The Foundation tends to focus on charities operating in the Lothians, Clydeside, Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire, Ayrshire, Fife and the Scottish Borders.
