The Ian Mactaggart Trust
The Ian Mactaggart Trust, or The Mactaggart Second Fund as it was originally known, received Inland Revenue approval on 13th February 1985. At its inaugural meeting on 18th June 1985 Sir Ian Mactaggart was appointed as the first Chairman and John Mactaggart, Philip Mactaggart and Rab Pender as trustees.
Sir Ian's original gift to the Trust was 147,767 ordinary shares in Mactaggart Heritable Holdings. The first dividend cheque of £73,883.50 was received by Mr Pender on behalf of the Trust and was invested in building society deposits. Over subsequent years the Trust invested carefully in commercial properties and built up a substantial equity portfolio.
In January 1987 Sir Ian Mactaggart died and Sir John Mactaggart succeeded him as Chair although it was agreed that this would rotate on an annual basis and that the Chairman should not in future have a casting vote.
In February 1987 Sir Ian's daughters Fiona and Jane were unanimously adopted as Trustees and the name of the Trust was formally changed from The Mactaggart Second Fund to The Ian Mactaggart Trust.
Since its inception the Trust has made a range of significant grants to worthwhile charitable causes. One of the earlier charitable initiatives was supporting Dr Keith Rogers of Gartnavel General Hospital, who was setting up a pain relief clinic within the National Health Service. In February 1986 a grant of £25,000 was allocated to this project. Another early initiative was supporting the purchase of one of the playing fields from Wiltshire County Council on behalf of the local community council.
Other examples of early donations include:
- a grant to St Andrew's Church, Frognal, where Sir Ian's burial service had been held;
- £10,000 in Sir Ian's memory to the Institute of Economic Affairs;
- £50,000 to the Islay Swimming Pool;
- £50,000 to Westminster Hospital towards the cost of a body scanner;
- £25,000 to the London Lighthouse project;
- £12,000 to Scottish Ballet;
- £22,000 to Swindon OxoBus;
- £10,000 to the Wiltshire Trust for Nature Conservation;
- £20,000 to Rainbow Childrens' Holidays;
- £5,000 was given to HEAR to enable them to carry out the first cochlear implant operations in Britain.
In October 1987 the Trustees were attended by Professor Donald Denman, who produced a draft memorandum to set up a series of memorial lectures in Sir Ian's memory. The first Memorial Lecture, chaired by the Rt. Hon. Lord Jay, was delivered by Professor Lord Beloff on 6 April 1988. These lectures ran until 1993, delivered by, amongst others, Lord Hailsham and the Hon. Jonathan Porritt. In 1994 a sum of £6,000 was approved to publish the lectures under the editorship of Judge Kolbert.
The Trust has had an important relationship with Glasgow University over the years. In November 1988, it was agreed to set up a research fellowship following discussions between Mr Pender and Sir William Kerr Faser, the Principal. The following year the Trust agreed to fund a Chair at a total cost of £450,000 payable over three years. In November 1990 the agreement between the Trust and the University was concluded establishing the Mactaggart Professorship.
Sir John Mactaggart's and Philip Mactaggart's partners, Lady Caroline Mactaggart and Tracey Woodcock Mactaggart, became Trustees in 1995 and 2000 respectively and they were lastly joined by their sister Leora Armstrong in 2002.
2000 - Date
Since the millennium the Trust has made charitable grants in excess of £6 million to charities in the UK and abroad. Significant grants during the period include:
Donations 2000 - 2009
| 2000 | £12,500 Wiltshire Community Foundation |
| 2001 | £40,000 John Muir Trust £17,600 Millbrook Library |
| 2002 | £17,250 Millbrook Education Foundation £10,350 Childrens Scholarship Fund |
| 2003 | £42,000 Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres £22,000 The Haven Trust £15,800 Millbrook Central School District Scholarship Fund £14,200 Autism Coalition |
| 2004 | £20,000 The Fawcett Trust £11,450 Robin Hood Foundation, New York |
| 2005 | £10,000 Cancer Bacup £10,000 Defeating Deafness |
| 2006 | £34,500 Wings WorldQuest £25,500 The Young Foundation £13,000 Myelin Repair Foundation |
| 2007 | £50,000 Dreamstore UK £20,000 Oxfordshire Community Foundation £10,000 The Royal Artillery Memorial Society |
| 2008 | £50,000 Council of Alumni for Social Enterprise £15,000 Wildlife Protection Society of India £14,000 Kipp Academy, New York |
| 2009 | £50,000 St Mary's Paddington Charitable Trust £15,000 Groundwork Thames Valley £10,000 Macmillan Cancer Relief |
Donations 2011 - Date
| 2011 | £13,000 Slough Immigration Aid Unit £10,000 Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust |
| 2012 | £50,000 Aik Saath (Together As One) £18,000 University of Glasgow, for the Ian Mactaggart Fellowship £10,000 Alzheimer's Scotland |
| 2013 | £40,000 Citizens Advice Service, Slough £31,000 HPV & Anal Cancer Foundation £25,000 Mactaggart Community Cybercafe £25,000 Battersea Arts Centre |
| 2014 | £47,000 Robin Hood Foundation, New York £15,000 Kipp Academy, New York |
| 2015 | £50,000 Eaves For Women £40,000 Battersea Arts Centre £19,500 Oxfordshire Community Foundation |
| 2016 | £50,000 Kulen Outreach £32,000 The English‑Speaking Union |
| 2017 | £51,000 Islay heritage £40,800 Eagle Hill Foundation £35,000 Battersea Arts Centre £20,000 Oxfordshire Community Foundation |
| 2018 | £50,000 HORAC Nepal £69,000 Kulen Outreach £30,700 Eagle Hill Foundation £20,000 Oxfordshire Community Foundation £18,500 British Heart Foundation |
| 2019 | £138,933 Health Navigator Foundation £69,200 Kulen Outreach £41,000 Omnibus Theatre Clapham £20,300 Oxfordshire Community Foundation |
| 2020 | £85,000 Kulen Outreach £80,000 Omnibus Theatre Clapham £35,800 Health Navigator Foundation £25,000 Man O War Relief Fund £25,000 Oxfordshire Community Foundation |
| 2021 | £28,500 Health Navigator Foundation £27,400 Kulen Outreach £11,250 Oxfordshire Community Foundation |
Between 2012 and 2019 donations totalling over £213,000 were made to The Port Ellen Station on the Isle of Islay.