The Robertson Trust

What The Robertson Trust does

The Robertson Trust is an independent Scottish grant-making foundation founded in 1961 by Ethel (Babs) Robertson and others, headquartered at Robertson House in Glasgow with a secondary office at The Barracks in Stirling. It is registered as Scottish Charity No. SC002970 and is one of Scotland's largest independent funders, operating exclusively within Scotland. The Trust's capital base derives from a majority stake in Edrington (an international spirits group) and a pooled investments portfolio, the dividends from which fund an average of £30m in annual charitable expenditure for the 2025-2028 delivery period, up from £25m previously. Its purpose is to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma through funding, supporting, and influencing structural solutions that drive social change.

The Trust operates a tiered funding portfolio: Wee Grants (up to £5,000), Small Grants (£5,000-£20,000) and Large Grants (£20,000-£50,000) for UK-registered charities and constituted community groups; Community Spaces and Community Transport programmes (£5,000-£20,000); the Big Change That Lasts Fund (£20,000-£500,000) for systemic-change initiatives; and newer vehicles including the Advancing Racial Justice Fund (£1m) and Supporting Resilience Fund for unrestricted capacity-building. Strategic funding is organised around four thematic priorities: Financial Security, Education Pathways, Nurturing Relationships, and Work Pathways. Applications are received via an online portal (tfaforms.com) using a two-stage process for major grants and standard processes for smaller funds.

Operationally, the Trust employs 11-50 staff organised around a Programmes and Practice team and a 16-strong Equity, Diversity, Participation and Rights (EDPR) group, led by Chief Executive Jim McCormick. Technology stack is standard: Umbraco CMS, Microsoft Azure cloud, and Salesforce.org CRM. The Trust supplements direct grant-making with policy influencing, partnership funding (notably the Independent Human Rights Fund with Corra Foundation, AB Charitable Trust, and others), and an Impact and Insights Framework (IIF) for outcome measurement. It also runs a Scholars Programme and lets out facilities at both Glasgow and Stirling sites.

Name

The Robertson Trust

Legal name

The Robertson Trust

Website

https://therobertsontrust.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Robertson Trust is an independent Scottish grant-making foundation that funds, supports, and influences registered charities and community groups working to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma across Scotland, distributing an average of £30m annually through tiered grants and strategic funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Grantmaking Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Charitable grantmaking
• Poverty prevention funding
• Community grant funding
• Third sector philanthropy
• Endowment based philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Glasgow

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns and Endowment Dividends: The Robertson Trust receives dividends from its majority stake in Edrington and returns from a pooled investments portfolio. These investment returns fund the trust's charitable activities and grant-making operations.
2. Charitable Grant-Making: The trust does not generate revenue in the traditional commercial sense. Rather, it distributes funds from its endowment and investment returns as grants to organizations working to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma in Scotland. Annual funding commitment increased to £30m per year (2025-2028).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Robertson Trust is an independent Scottish grant-making trust that distributes multi-tiered funding — including Wee Grants (£5,000), Small Grants (£5,000–£20,000), Large Grants (£20,000–£50,000), Community Spaces, Community Transport and the Big Change That Lasts Fund (£20,000–£500,000) — to registered charities and constituted community groups in Scotland to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma. It also operates the Robertson Trust Scholars Programme for individuals and runs its impact work through the Impact and Insights Framework (IIF).

Product overview

The Robertson Trust is an independent Scottish grant-making trust working to prevent and reduce poverty and trauma in Scotland. The Trust offers a multi-tiered funding portfolio consisting of: Our Funds programme (Wee Grants up to £5,000, Small Grants £5,000-£20,000, and Large Grants £20,000-£50,000 for charities); Community Spaces and Community Transport grants (£5,000-£20,000); the Big Change That Lasts Fund (£20,000-£500,000 for systemic change initiatives); and specialised funds including the Advancing Racial Justice Fund and Supporting Resilience Fund. Funding is organised around four strategic themes: Education Pathways, Financial Security, Nurturing Relationships, and Work Pathways. The Trust also operates the Robertson Trust Scholars Programme and manages facilities at Robertson House Glasgow and The Barracks Stirling. Impact is measured through the Impact and Insights Framework (IIF).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Big Change That Lasts Fund: A fund supporting organisations working in Scotland to deliver long-term, systemic change that prevents and reduces poverty and related trauma.
• Advancing Racial Justice Fund

Products and services

• Wee Grants Grants of up to £5,000 for one year for constituted community groups and charities with annual income under £30,000, covering revenue or capital costs.
• Small Grants Revenue funding of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year for up to five years for registered charities with annual income between £30,000 and £200,000, available as unrestricted or restricted funding.
• Large Grants Revenue funding of between £20,000 and £50,000 per year for up to five years for registered charities with annual income over £200,000 and up to £2 million.
• Big Change That Lasts Fund Restricted project funding of between £20,000 and £500,000 (typically £50,000–£100,000 per year) for up to five years for organisations with annual income over £200,000. Currently prioritising Financial Security applications and supporting long-term, systemic change.
• Community Spaces Revenue funding of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year for up to three years for community centres, hubs or anchor organisations with annual income between £30,000 and £500,000 delivering services to prevent or reduce poverty and trauma.
• Community Transport Funding of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year for 1–3 years for registered charities with annual income between £30,000 and £2 million, contributing towards transport costs to support their work.
• Advancing Racial Justice Fund A £1M strategic funding initiative offering funding and wraparound support to small and medium Black and People of Colour-led grassroots groups, charities and CICs pursuing system change goals around poverty, trauma and systemic racism in Scotland.
• Supporting Resilience Fund Funding approach providing Small grantholders with freedom to invest in organisational resilience and wellbeing, developed from the Plus Fund pilot.
• GLAD Initiative An initiative offering funding, coaching, training and wraparound support for 11 lived-experience changemakers pursuing diverse goals on poverty and trauma.
• Robertson Trust Scholars Programme A scholarship programme providing funding and personal support to individual learners in Scotland, with a dedicated Salesforce-based Scholar Portal for resources and information.
• Robertson House Glasgow (Facilities Hire) Facilities hire offering at Robertson House, 152 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4TB, available for events and meetings.
• The Barracks Stirling (Facilities Hire) Facilities hire offering at the Trust's Stirling secondary office location, available for events and meetings.
• Impact and Insights Framework (IIF) An impact measurement framework that helps The Robertson Trust understand the differences it is contributing to and make informed decisions about where it can have the biggest impact on poverty and trauma in Scotland.

Quantifiable outcome

• 48% success rate on applications (April 2026 round with £1,880,000 awarded to 48 organizations)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• D8 (Glasgow-based design agency)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerD8 developed the organization's refreshed brand identity including new logo, typeface, and colour palette as part of the 2025 rebranding initiative to reflect the Trust's evolved mission of driving social justice.
• Corra FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of Independent Human Rights Fund for Scotland, with The Robertson Trust as a founding funder contributing £400,000 plus share of running costs over three years. Corra Foundation acts as host for the fund.
• Lankelly ChasecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioner with The Robertson Trust of the Hard Edges Scotland report (2019) examining severe and multiple disadvantage in Scotland. Long-term strategic partnership on systems change.
• Ten Years TimeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConvenor of racial justice funders community of practice, providing peer and specialist support to The Robertson Trust for improving EDPR practices.
• Anderson KnightminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRecruitment partner for vacancy of Programmes and Practice Officer. Handling application process and initial screening on behalf of The Robertson Trust.
• One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned by The Robertson Trust to produce research on barriers faced by single parents in accessing higher education. Partnership on policy influencing around child maintenance systems.
• Fife GingerbreadminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with OPFS and IPPR Scotland on transforming child maintenance systems in Scotland, as part of Big Change That Lasts systems change work.
• IPPR ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner with OPFS and Fife Gingerbread on child maintenance system transformation, part of efforts to shift systems on poverty prevention.
• Corra FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorra Foundation acts as host for What Matters To You neighbourhood funding model, blending grantmaking expertise with citizen insights in Dundee and Clackmannanshire.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• National Lottery Community Fund: The largest funder of community activity in the UK, distributing Lottery grants to charities and community groups. Comparable as a large-scale UK grantmaker serving the same third-sector applicant pool as The Robertson Trust, though operating UK-wide with broader thematic scope.
• Esmée Fairbairn Foundation: Major UK grant-making foundation supporting social change, the arts, and the natural environment. Comparable as a significant UK independent foundation with similar unrestricted and long-term grantmaking models targeting systemic social outcomes.
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: One of the UK's largest social-change foundations focused on solving poverty. Comparable as a major UK poverty-focused grantmaker with research, advocacy, and grantmaking functions, though larger in scale and operating UK-wide rather than Scotland-only.

Direct peers

• Corra Foundation: Independent Scottish grant-making foundation focused on social change and improving lives. Directly comparable as both a Scotland-based independent grantmaker; Corra acts as host for multiple Robertson Trust co-funded initiatives (Independent Human Rights Fund, What Matters To You neighbourhood model).
• Lankelly Chase Foundation: UK foundation focused on systemic change for people facing severe and multiple disadvantage. Directly comparable as a long-term strategic partner of The Robertson Trust and co-commissioner of the Hard Edges Scotland research, sharing a systems-change philosophy.

Peers

• AB Charitable Trust:

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-robertson-trust

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

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Frequently asked questions about The Robertson Trust