Charitable trusts typically provide public benefit by making grants or donations to other charities, voluntary groups or individuals as laid out in their original constitution.

In May 2021, we launched Scotland’s Revitalising Trusts Project, which we set up to identify charitable trusts that appear to be inactive and support them to reactivate.  Through the Revitalising Trusts project, which is being run in collaboration with OSCR, we have identified nearly 300 dormant charitable trusts across Scotland. 

There are different reasons why a trust can lie dormant.  It can be difficult to recruit new trustees, find time to run the charity or as times change, it can be impossible to identify beneficiaries befitting the original deeds of the trust.

Some of the Trusts identified by Foundation Scotland include those formed over a century ago, for example to help boys with the surname Stewart, supply pensions to women of good character or provide medical assistance pre-NHS. We have already worked with 28 trusts, unlocking their funds to suit current day needs, totalling around £2.3 million from lost and forgotten charitable accounts. So what does a dormant trust look like - do any of the following statements apply to you?

• We find it difficult to identify beneficiaries.
• We cannot spend the income of the charity.
• We find ourselves providing money to the same people or groups every year.
• We find it hard to attract trustees.
• We want to be involved in how the money gets spent, but we don’t want the legal responsibility of being a trustee.
• The work of administering the charity and its investment is becoming onerous, costly or disproportionate to the level of funding.
• We wish we knew more about local issues and opportunities. For example, who else is funding projects and activities for our cause or in our area?

Did you answer yes to one or more of these questions? If so, don’t worry, we can help.

A collaborative approach

Working with OSCR, the Project has been established to help ensure funds from apparently inactive or dormant charitable trusts are ‘unlocked’ to support good causes across Scotland. For this project, OSCR has defined an inactive or dormant trust as one which has:

• Not spent or received any money in the last five years; or
• Spent less than 30% of its income in the last five years.

Even though many of these trusts are very small, collectively, they hold a significant amount that could make a huge difference to local communities if we can revitalise them. For example, a similar project has been enormously successful in England, and since 2018, it has revitalised over £50 million of inactive funds. These funds have been managed by local community foundations and other charities, distributing vital funding to community projects throughout the country.

Why are we working with OSCR?

Foundation Scotland and OSCR are committed to seeing charities provide public benefit and make a difference to Scotland's communities. Together, we have the resources and experience to assist charities in their journey to ensure that they continue doing so. We've appointed a Project Advisor who will be working closely with charity trustees to assist them in addressing any issues of inactivity (with support from OSCR). They will also link the experience and knowledge of the Foundation Scotland team with regard to grantmaking, fund management and local community funding.

What does revitalising mean?

Revitalising will mean different things and could result in any of the following:

• Getting help to manage your funds again
• Winding up your trust and transferring to another active grantmaking trust 
• Support to create a new fund 

Foundation Scotland will then lead in supporting trustees to help them work through their options to create an action plan to revitalise their funds. Throughout September 2021, OSCR will begin to contact inactive or dormant charitable trusts in Scotland. Here's a list of frequently asked questions to help you understand what might be involved should you get contacted.