Abbotsford was the home of author, Sir Walter Scott, and remained in the Scott family until 2004. In 2007, The Abbotsford Trust was set up and in 2010 we supported it to transform the site, including the restoration of the historic Scott apartments.
Before 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.