Chair's Report
How extraordinary it is to think that an original investment of 75,000 five shilling Provincial shares worth £18,750 in 1963 has since allowed over £45m in grants to be paid to charitable causes. Our current way of working is to fund ‘coal face’ work, investing in communities and those who live and work in them because their commitment and knowledge carry projects forward from the best possible base. We keep paperwork to a minimum, try to respond quickly to all requests and do not wish to be overly prescriptive to recipients as to how they achieve their aims. The projects we fund are visited by the Director, and yearly annual evaluations are requested from all recipients.
This report contains the voices of the children, young people and adults who benefit from the work the Trust supports in their communities. They say, in a few evocative words, how the projects we fund have made a difference to their lives and their voices must continue to be listened to if we are to meet their needs in the future. Cumbria has been through some hard times recently and the role of the FCSCT, as a major funder in the county, must be to respond positively and imaginatively to requests for help and advice not just at the moment of crisis but in the months and years to come.
The last four years have seen a continuation of the work of the FCSCT within Cumbria and North Lancashire which has been made possible by the generosity and foresight of the Scott family. We believe that we have stayed true to the philanthropic interests of the family whilst moving the Trust forward to meet the needs of the twenty-first century. With this in mind, we are holding a strategic review in 2010 involving the Trustees, the Director, a panel whose experience matches our areas of giving and a group of young people from across our beneficial area.
The Trust has recently received an unexpected legacy from the late Thomas Gane. His family chose the Scott Trusts as an effective means of distributing his legacy and the Trustees chose to give small grants to many of the smaller projects that we fund. Their reactions and letters have been such a pleasure to witness as they have informed us of how they plan to spend this unexpected windfall. We are most grateful to Thomas Gane’s family for allowing us to realise the hopes and wishes of so many people.
Our Director Chris Batten travels extensively throughout Cumbria and North Lancashire and his widespread knowledge and experience of youth and family work is freely shared with all those working in these fields. He has a strong insight into the world of grant giving and those who are seeking help, and represents the Trust with sincerity and good humour. We as Trustees are extremely grateful to him for his commitment and guidance and thank him most sincerely. Chris could not carry out his work without a strong team alongside him and I would like to acknowledge our gratitude to them all.
My work, and the work of the Trust, would not be possible without the support and commitment of my fellow Board members. At the time of writing we are midway through a process of change and development and were pleased to welcome Melanie Wotherspoon and Peter Redhead to the Board in 2009. Richard Boddy has signalled his intention to retire in early 2010 and I would like to pay particular tribute to the expertise and enthusiasm that he has brought to the Board over the past 14 years. He will be greatly missed. I would also like to recognise the work of the Trust’s Investment Committee, ably led by Don Shore, during what has been a very testing time.