When will there be good news? How about now…
Howard Lake | 14 April 2010 | Blogs
Last week, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland announced a return to its core business – grantmaking. Hurrah! And with no irony intended whatsoever, the catalyst for this change in fortunes was the sale of some of the Foundation’s shares in Lloyds Banking Group.
The sale realised £2m and the Foundation intends to put it to immediate good use, directing the money to those hard pressed charities in Scotland most in need, small and hard to reach groups and organisations that find it hard to access funding elsewhere. It’s an approach the Rev Duncan, the founder of the TSB, would be proud of.
Criteria will be made public in mid April and the details will be posted on the Foundation’s website www.ltsbfoundationforscotland.org.uk. (Sorry Howard I’ve forgotten how to do the fancy dan hyperlinks).
And the first awards are likely to be made early this summer.
The Lloyds Banking Group tried to prevent the Foundation buying shares in the two rights issues in 2009, despite the Foundation being an eligible shareholder. But the tenacious Foundation fought their corner vigorously and now charities across Scotland will benefit. Not just this year, but also in the future., as more of the shares are sold.
It’s a small but significant victory for the little people against the big bankers. Here’s to many more….. and being able to share more good news with you soon.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.