Moffat Charitable Trust donates £1 million to support Scottish carers

The Moffat family, which set up a charitable trust in Scotland in 1999, has boosted the funds available by £50 million – and has donated £1million to The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland.

The Moffat Charitable Trust was established following the death of Jim Moffat, the founder of AT Mays travel agents, in 1998. Now his widow, Margie Moffat, has donated £50million to the family charitable trust and the first disbursement of £1million has been made to enable The Princess Royal Trust for Carers to expand its services to carers all over Scotland.

Jamie Moffat, Chairman of The Moffat Charitable Trust says:

"My father included a major legacy within his Will in order to give something back to the community in which he lived and worked and this was used to establish The Moffat Charitable Trust. My mother wants to develop that commitment by making a significant donation to The Moffat Charitable Trust and to see the benefits of that donation to others in her lifetime.

"We agreed that we should make an impact with an initial £1million donation to raise awareness of our charitable trust and we selected The Princess Royal Trust for Carers as we are keen to support Scotland’s 600,000 carers. From now on, we expect to disburse in excess of £3m to charitable causes every year."

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers will use the £1million donation to establish a two year pilot project across four Health Board areas in Scotland, to identify carers at the earliest possible stage and ensure they have information and advice about local services and support. This will prevent carers reaching crisis point by putting in place services and support at an early point in their caring journey.

Ruth Clark, Assistant Director of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland, says:

"The Moffat family is following a great Scottish tradition of philanthropy which is reminiscent of Andrew Carnegie at the beginning of the last century.

"The exceptional generosity of the Moffat family will enable us to establish a hospital discharge package which will have far reaching benefits for carers and for the NHS in Scotland. The results of our two year pilot will provide a template of best practice not only for the whole of Scotland, but for the rest of the UK, thanks to The Moffat Charitable Trust."

80% of the care currently provided in Scotland is provided by unpaid carers at home and the majority of these carers report significant damage to their emotional and physical health. The Census 2001 estimated that 115,000 carers in Scotland care for over 50 hours every week

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Scotland supports carers of all ages, no matter what their circumstances, through a network of 29 carers’ centres reaching from Orkney to the Borders.

Further information

Find out more about the Moffat Charitable Trust

Visit our site for Health Professionals.

Watch the STV broadcast of this story with Jamie Moffat and Ruth Clark: STV video - Moffat donation

You can also read more about this in The Scotsman: from wooden hut to £50m philanthropist