Page 4 - report 2021
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CHAIR’S REPORT















                    When the pandemic hit, I remember saying        Change is easy till it happens to you,
                    to Marion, this will change everything.         Scotland is facing a time of great change,
                                                                    we can either treat it as a threat or as an
                    We took the time to review what we were         opportunity, you know my answer.
                    doing in the foundation and decided to
                    change.  We decided to pull forward our         We are working with Columba 1400 to help
                    giving, as the need created by the pandemic     prepare our leaders to navigate this change
                    had never been greater, but we also felt the    and help Scotland and its people flourish.
                    chance for positive social change has never
                    been better.  We decided to re-double our       We have learned so much from Norman and
                    efforts in helping entrepreneurs start and      the team at Columba 1400, thank-you.
                    scale their businesses.  Entrepreneurs thrive
                    during periods of great change because they  Thanks also to our team at Kiltwalk led by
                    are nimble, agile, able to see opportunity and   Paul Cooney.  5 years in, £29m raised for
                    they are the life blood of our economy, we      over 2,641 different Scottish charities.   It’s the
                    have their backs.                               lowest cost platform for supporters of any
                                                                    and every Scottish charity to raise funds for
                    Through our partnership with the Scottish       the causes they care about.
                    Government backing Social Entrepreneurs
                    to find a better outcome for those they         Our foundation tops up whatever they raise
                    seek to support we’ve learned a lot through     by 50% though during the pandemic we
                    the pandemic as many traditional support        increased that temporarily to 100% the need
                    mechanisms stepped back our Social              was so vast.
                    Entrepreneurs stepped forward and simply
                    asked ‘How can we help?’                        Please take our money.

                    They found a better way and we mustn’t go       In April 2021, we lost a friend, a mentor and a
                    back to the old ways.  It’s a privilege to help   trustee, Vartan Gregorian, thank-you doesn’t
                    support these pioneers.  You can read their     cover it for this wonderful saint of a man. I
                    stories in our report.                          pay my tribute to him later in the report.

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