Our successes have been focused around our trustees. They have embraced the endowment and have taken a leading role in fundraising.

Abbotsford is the creation of author Sir Walter Scott, and remained in the Scott family until 2004. The Trust was set up in 2007 and received support from HLF in 2010 to transform the site, including the restoration of the historic Scott apartments.

Prior to applying to Catalyst Endowment, the Trust already had a small endowment in shares. Catalyst aimed to build on this with a target of reaching £3million by 2016. A public appeal was planned towards the end of the grant period to make use of the matching deadline, targeting major donors and the general public.

Within the organisation there was no one named fundraiser, and fundraising was considered everyone’s responsibility. The contribution of the Trustees proved important, as they introduced the Trust to new potential donors. The endowments campaign was successfully completed in 2016, and the income from the endowment will help fund essential running costs such as maintenance and insurance.