Foundation Scotland has distributed more than £130 million to organisations
One of Scotland’s largest community foundations is celebrating a milestone anniversary.
Foundation Scotland is marking the organisation’s silver anniversary today, Tuesday 30 November, which is also St Andrews Day and Giving Tuesday.
Originally established in 1996 as Scotland's Community Foundation, the major funder has distributed more than £130 million to charitable organisations, social enterprises, and community groups operating across Scotland since its launch 25 years ago.
The foundation specialises in supporting charitable initiatives within local communities, and in a typical year, the funder supports an average of 2,000 charitable projects and services the length and breadth of the country. From local foodbanks to counselling services, to youth groups and education and training funds. From an initial group of three staff, the foundation now has over 30 workers managing around 100 different national and local funding programmes each year.
Earlier this year the foundation began offering investment for social enterprises following the integration with Resilient Scotland.
The Linwood Community Development Trust (LCDT) in Linwood has received £310,000 in support from Foundation Scotland across the last nine years. Formed by a group of volunteers from the local community, LCDT set up with a mission to improve the health and wellbeing and reduce social inequalities within their area. The largest award was from the Foundation’s Scotland’s social investment team which enabled the building of a 3G football pitch and community building.
Kirsty Flannigan, community programme manager at the trust, said: “It is of vital importance for communities, like Linwood, to have Foundation Scotland as a funding partner. When we formed 10 years ago, little did we know of the journey that lay ahead of us.
“Foundation Scotland believed in our vision, when many others did not. Their support at that time was vital to enable us as an organisation to create the initial business plan to get our project started. Also to be given the support to learn and develop skills to enable us to deliver on our vision for the community.”
Throughout the pandemic, new donors to Foundation Scotland have come on board, and new funds have opened to help support communities through the crisis. In March 2020, Foundation Scotland was chosen by the National Emergencies Trust to distribute over £7.3 million in emergency funding across Scotland. Using the foundation’s extensive knowledge and proven reach within communities the funds were distributed quickly where they were needed most.
More recently, Foundation Scotland launched the CalMac Community Fund on behalf of Caledonian MacBrayne and the PHP Community Impact Fund on behalf of Primary Health Properties.
Giles Ruck, chief executive at Foundation Scotland, said: “We are proud to be Scotland’s community foundation. For 25 years, we’ve maintained the vision of supporting confident, thriving, resilient communities across Scotland. And for every community to thrive, it should be resourced to match its vision and powered by transformative funding. That's where we come in. Over the last quarter of a century, we have connected the generosity of donors, corporates and individuals, to enable and empower vital projects and grassroot-led change.
“As we look ahead, Foundation Scotland remains dedicated to supporting incredible local groups operating in the heart of communities. We will continue to work hard to reach and connect with new donors keen to distribute funds effectively at a local level so that together we can continue to deliver extraordinary support.”
Anyone interested in finding out more about Foundation Scotland can contact development@foundationscotland.org.uk or call 0131 524 0300.
