History of the Trust
The Francis C Scott Charitable Trust (FCSCT) was created in 1963 by Peter F Scott CBE, then Chairman of the Provincial Insurance Company. Peter Scott, together with his parents Francis and Frieda Scott and his sister Joan Trevelyan, endowed the Trust with a significant holding of Provincial Insurance Company shares. The Trust was established by Deed of Trust dated 1st October 1963 with wide powers to distribute for charitable purposes.
Francis C Scott was Chairman of Provincial Insurance Company from 1946-1956 and son of the Company's Founder Sir James Scott Bt. Francis and his wife Frieda were keenly interested in, and supported, music and the arts, youth and social work in the old counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and further afield. The Trust was named after FC Scott in recognition of his charitable activities and established with the aim of continuing to support the type of charitable projects that he had encouraged and supported.
In 1967 the capital of the Trust was significantly increased when another family Trust was wound up and its assets added to those of the FCSCT. That second Trust had been set up by FC Scott in the 1940s to fund Brathay Hall, although it had latterly funded a wider range of projects. Brathay Hall, itself founded by FC Scott, has been in the forefront of provision of personal development programmes and opportunities for young people and has been supported by the FCSCT for many years. We continue to support Brathay Hall, partly through our role as landlord.
From the Trust's inception, we have given grants to a wide range of organisations, with emphasis on supporting disadvantaged people and communities. The primary geographical focus was always Cumbria and North Lancashire, although significant grants were made within the rest of Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and occasionally other parts of the country. Our focus has recently been narrower.
The Trust income and the number of grants has grown substantially since its inception: in 1963-67, the first four years of the Trust's operations, 87 grants were made to 35 organisations and totalled £79,107. In 2002/03 grants totalled £1,159,738.