The Foundation Sees a Record Grant Making Year
Nearly $500,000 in Conservation Grants Were Made in Fiscal Year 2016
The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA (NTSUSA) sent a record $495,845 to the National Trust for Scotland in fiscal year 2016, representing a 55% increase over the previous year and bringing the total amount sent by the American friends group to $7.8 million since 2000.
“We are thrilled to be able to support the important work of the National Trust for Scotland in conserving that country’s cultural and natural heritage for future generations,” said NTSUSA Chair Helen E.R. Sayles, CBE, “and we are deeply grateful to the hundreds of members and donors from across the United States who have joined with us to make that work possible.”
Falkland Palace & Garden
Glenfinnan Monument
NTSUSA supported 22 different priority projects at 15 National Trust for Scotland properties this year. Highlights include:
- The restoration of the Percy Cane-designed garden at Falkland Palace (Fife), which has recently gained popular acclaim as a shooting location for the television series Outlander;
- Urgent repairs to the Burns Monument (Ayr) and the Glenfinnan Monument (Glenfinnan);
- Technology and training that will enable students, volunteers, and staff to survey and monitor rare and endangered Scottish wildlife, including bats, pine martens, and red squirrels, across the country;
- Urgent path repairs needed to reduce erosion along Torridon’s Beinn Alligin Ridge;
- Upgraded amenities for families at Crathes Castle & Garden (Aberdeen) and Culzean Castle & Country House (Ayr);
- Digitization of the internationally significant sound archive amassed by John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw between 1936 and 1969, which captured vital elements of traditional Gaelic culture on Uist and Barra.
“This is a wonderful result and testament to the unbreakable ties of kinship and history between Scotland and the USA,” said the Chief Executive of the National Trust for Scotland, Simon Skinner. “We are incredibly grateful to Americans for their generosity in helping to preserve places that are vitally important to our shared heritage. This outstanding support will help us undertake vital conservation tasks and ensure that some of Scotland’s most magnificent places can be visited and enjoyed by current and future generations.”
The Hill House
NTSUSA raises American funds for the National Trust for Scotland via public appeals, restricted gifts, a membership program, and an annual gala. At this year’s A Celebration of Scotland’s Treasures gala, Phyllis Logan, the Scottish actress best known as Mrs. Hughes from Downton Abbey, was honored in front of an audience of more than 300.
“We have had a tremendous year,” commented Kirstin Bridier, NTSUSA Executive Director, “and our work continues. In the coming year, we will be actively fundraising for priorities including research and development of a long-term maintenance and repair plan for Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House. This project is especially exciting because it will have an impact far beyond Scotland, on the conservation of early modern buildings worldwide.”
