Stuart's Charity

As a family we have personally benefited from this local charity - a winter-break to the Centre Parc near  Penrith in 2010 has provided us with some lovely memories and photographs.  Below are some details about the charity, with contact details should anyone want to donate directly, or apply.


The Adamson Trust

So often we say that something is “Too good to be true” and “where is the catch ?” However just occasionally there is no catch. Would you believe that there is a local children’s charity with its base in Crieff, Perthshire, which hands out money and that this charity is struggling to find enough local people who are actually applying for help?


Well of course there are a few strings attached! The Adamson Trust, a charitable trust was set up in 1947 by Agnes Adamson, a Crieff resident, with an endowment of £10,000 to buy and support a respite home or a holiday home for disabled children. The Trustees at the time decided not to purchase premises and in fact it never bought a home. Instead over the years the Trust has financed holidays and respite breaks for children, children with a whole range of illnesses and difficulties. The original £10,000 has grown magnificently through careful nurturing by the Trustees. Since 2002 it has become much more active in letting people know of its existence and has increased the amount it has paid out to deserving children and their carers from £6,380 in 2002 to the present level of around £70,000 per annum. This money has been paid by grants to applicants from all over the UK. Several grants are paid each year to other charitable groups who care for children, but there are many individual grants made to families, and in this way the whole family can be helped to take a much needed holiday or a short respite break.

The recent increase in the trust’s activities is quite remarkable: in 2002 it made grants to 18 people or organisations totalling £6,380. By 2010 it was able to make 109 awards totalling £74,235. The average grant to individuals comes to about £450. It would give the Trustees great satisfaction if much more of this money could go to local families. It does seem a pity that more local people are not aware of this help available right on their doorstep. The current Trustees are all from the Crieff area and meet four times a year to consider applications and make awards. The Trust gets applications from all over the UK for mentally or physically disabled children to assist in a holiday or a respite break.

Application forms together with the Trust’s conditions are available from the Trust’s administrator at : The Adamson Trust, P O Box 26334, Crieff, Perthshire PH7 9AB. The conditions for receiving a grant from the Trust are straightforward – the child must be under 18, there must be evidence of a disability of some kind and the money must be spent on a holiday or respite care - and should not discourage anyone from applying.