Johnston Smillie Charitable Trust and The Kiltwalk 2021

We are very proud of the funds that we have managed to raise over the last twelve years with over £170,000 being donated to several charities.

Previously our staff nominated a charity annually and the total amount raised was given to that one charity.  Our highest annual total of £27,000 was raised in 2019 and was donated to It’s Good 2 Give!

Early in 2020 we decided to change tack and with the assistance of our inhouse charity experts, we registered the Johnston Smillie Charitable Trust with OSCR.  Our ethos has always been to try to assist smaller charities where we can make a real difference.  Setting up our own Charitable Trust therefore makes it easier for us to assist several charities in a year who are either nominated by one of our team or apply directly to our Charitable Trust for funds.

We have set up two committees to assist to run the Charitable Trust:

• The Fund Raising Committee – who come up with ideas as to how to raise funds

• The Distribution Committee – who discuss applications received for funding from charities and also consider any charities nominated by members of staff and ultimately make the decision on who to make donations to.

All of the staff can put themselves forward for one or other of the committees.

Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, 2020 was not the best year for us to launch our own Charitable Trust due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, which severely curtailed our fundraising activities.  However, we still managed to raise some funds, mainly thanks to contributions from staff. This enabled us to make donations from the new Trust of £1,500 to Steps to Hope and £1,000 to Edinburgh Young Carers during the last year. Both are small, local and very deserving charities and were delighted to receive these donations.

If you would like to make a donation to our charity then you can find our fundraising page here

The Kiltwalk 2021

We are delighted that with restrictions now lifting the Johnston Smillie Charitable Trust has registered for The Kiltwalk 2021.  Several members of our team will therefore be taking part in this event which takes place in Glasgow on 26 September 2021.

Any funds raised will most generously be topped up by 50% (to a maximum of £5,000 per walker) by The Hunter Foundation which will be a most welcome boost as we start to take part in live events again.

If you would like to support our Kiltwalkers please click on the following link:-

https://fundraising.thekiltwalk.co.uk/teams/TheJohnstonSmillers