The Royal Celtic Society’s annual grant making activity – ie, beneficiaries receiving donations annually, rather than one-off projects – is reviewed on a three-yearly basis. That review was last due to take place in 2020, but the society’s council took the decision it should be postponed until after the Covid pandemic was safely behind us and activies had returned to something approaching normality.
That review has now taken place. The number of annual beneficiaries has been reduced to six from a previous 10, in order to free up funds for an increase in ad-hoc grant making which, it is felt, will make for a more productive use of the society’s resources. We will continue to support the Innerleithen Pipe Band, the North Uist Highland Games, the Glenfinnan Highland Games, the Clan Macpherson Museum, and Fas Mor, the Gaelic playgroup on the Isle of Skye, all relationships dating back many decades. We also continue to sponsor the Northern Meeting Piping Competition, including its iconic Gold Medal, the most prestigious piping award in the world.
An addition to this list is the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust and it is anticipated most of our future support for piping will be channelled through this charity, which is led by our member Angus Tulloch. This relects the importance the society places on encouraging the education and involvement of young people in Scotland’s traditional arts, at the earliest opportunity. This will beging in 2023 when we will be one of the sponsors of the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championship, an established and respected competition which, when it last took place in 2019, attracted over 800 competitors from 143 schools, from all over Scotland’s mainland and islands.
Additionally, the society will continue to offer two annual prizes to Taobh na Pairce, the Gaelic primary school in Edinburgh, which will be awareded at Christmas time for project work completed during the Autumn term. Our support for the Clarsach Society, via sponsorhsip of concerts at the annual Edinburgh International Harp Festival, will continue.
The annual giving policy will next be reviewd in 2025.