Record year of giving for Scottish philanthropists
Wealthy Scots gave £230 million to charity last year with Sir Ian Wood and JK Rowling topping the chart.
The figures were revealed in the Sunday Times Giving List which showed that wealthy people made a record number of charitable donations last year.
Oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood has given £5m and promised £25m in total to Opportunity North East, an economic development body. Overall Wood gave £14m to his Wood Foundation charity in the last year as well as giving money to Robert Gordon University and Robert Gordon's College.
Author JK Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter novels, ranks second in the list of celebrity donors with £10.3m generated and donated by her two charities in the past year.
Stagecoach founders Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag have generated or donated more than £20m for charity in the last year.
They send out an important message about the positive impact we can all have by supporting causes we care about
Lord Laidlaw, Irvine Laidlaw, has given more than £10m in the last year, including a significant donation to Columbia Business School.
Sir Tom Hunter has made £3.2m in donations in the last year, mostly to his Hunter Foundation which works in Africa and on youth projects in Scotland.
EuroMillions winners Colin and Chris Weir made a £1m donation to the SNP, the joint-largest political donation of the year.
The list is sponsored by the Charities Aid Foundation, one of Europe’s largest charitable foundations which helped people give £478m to charities last year.
John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “Young people are the future of giving and the celebrities many people look up to can play a massive role in setting an example and showing how rewarding it is to give.
“Those on the Rich List who give to good causes provide much so more than just financial support.
"When stars from Coldplay and One Direction to Rory Mcilroy and David Beckham give to charity, they send out an important message about the positive impact we can all have by supporting causes we care about."
Almost a fifth (178) of the 1,000 people in Rich List, to be published next Sunday, have donated at least £1m to charity in the past year.
In total, the wealthy have given away £2.66 billion in the past 12 months.
