Perth charities hit out at bank's decision to slash charity cash

Nov 13 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

LEADING figures from Perth charities have hit out a decision by bankers to slash cash backing to local good causes.

Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it plans to half its contributions to charities and voluntary organisations.

Perth Street Pastors leader Michael Archibald, whose father Andrew Archibald was responsible for setting up the trust as TSB Scotland chairman, is leading the outcry against the controversial decision.

“The Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland have indicated that they have suspended their grant-making activities for the foreseeable future,” he said.

“This is a matter of huge concern to the voluntary sector in Scotland as they are the biggest independent funder in Scotland, having given grants of £85million in Scotland since 1985.

“They now make grants of around £6million annually in Scotland and I am proud of the role my father had in the setting up of the trust.”

The trust was set up in 1985 by act of Parliament to give out funds to Scottish charities in perpetuity, in line with principles established when the Trustee Savings Bank was founded for the benefit of the poor in 1810.

Ian Marr, chief executive of Perth YMCA, said the voluntary sector was facing a crisis.

To illustrate his point, he said his own group had recently surveyed nearly 4,000 young people in Perthshire at a cost of £47,000, which was met in full by Lloyds TSB Foundation.

Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham said the bank had lost touch with their founding principles.

“We cannot stand by and let Lloyds’ black horse rear up and trample all over Scotland’s charities,” she declared.