Charity registration number SC002721
Charity Trustees
Reverend Kevin Franz– Chair
Reverend Ian Gilmour
Sylvia Marchant – Secretary (till May 2025)
Lucy Gall – Secretary (from May 2025)
Norman Kerr OBE– Treasurer
Iona Finlayson
Dr Marlene Finlayson (Till May 2026)
Allan Ramsey
Independent Examiner Carol Millar
Clydebank
Glasgow
Bankers Virgin Bank, 326 Byers Road, Glasgow, G12 8AN
Investment Managers Greenbank
George House, 50 George Square
Glasgow G2 1EH
Independent Financial Advisors Ethical Futures LLP, 9 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, ERH3 6NB
The Trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 5 April 2026. The legal and administrative information on pages 1 and 2 forms part of this report.
Trustees
The Trustees who served during the year were as follows:
Reverend Kevin Franz– Chair
Reverend Ian Gilmour
Sylvia Marchant – Secretary (till May 2025)
Lucy Gall – Secretary (from May 2025)
Norman Kerr OBE– Treasurer
Iona Finlayson
Dr Marlene Finlayson (Till May 2026)
Allan Ramsey
Nature and Purposes of the Claremont Trust
The Claremont Trust (hereafter referred to as the Trust) was established on the 31st of July 1948 in the aftermath of World War II by three brothers, Alastair Paton Forrester-Paton, The Reverend Colin Forrester-Paton B.D. and Douglas Shaw Forrester-Paton B.A., with an awareness of the suffering and moral turmoil of that time and the challenge facing the Church.
The Deed which established the Trust lays down that the Trust Fund shall be applied to such purposes in any part of the world as are embraced by the word “charitable” according to Scots Law and which in the Trustees judgement “are best fitted for assisting towards the proclamation of the Christian Gospel and the fulfilment of its demands in the life of society.”
Rather than putting its comparatively slender resources into relief and remedial work, the Trust has seen its role as being to give support to more radical and constructive enterprises, both within and outside the Church. In its choice of such enterprises, the Trustees have sought those which seemed to them to give practical expression to the Christian Gospel in the life of society, and those which aimed to encourage and support Christian lay people trying to live out their faith in the moral and practical complexities of the secular world. Within the Church, they try to give support to movements or initiatives which are a renewing influence on the Church’s life as a living community existing for the sake of the world around it in all its need.
In its grant giving, the Trust has tried to direct support particularly to new and promising initiatives which would find it difficult to attract funds from other sources, but need help to get on their feet and, in due course, to generate sufficient local financial support to sustain their growth and development.
Trustees
The Trust Deed states that there should be no more than eight trustees but is silent as to the qualifications which the founder’s thought desirable for new trustees. However, it is expected that trustees will “naturally attempt to find trustees who are not only full members of some denomination of the Church, but who are also generally sympathetic to the purposes of the Trust” It is therefore open to the remaining trustees to find a suitable replacement when one of their number retires or moves on. All current trustees are full members of some branch of the Church and include serving and retired members of the clergy, elders, and other Church activists.
New trustees are found by recommendation and are only invited to become trustees after successful interview by no less than two of the existing trustees.
Activities
In preparation for meetings, it continues to be that the Trustees use a formal matrix to assist them in assessing applications. This allows trustees to focus more clearly on those applications which meet the Trust’s criteria.
The Trust’s income, derived from a small return on investments, only justifies one meeting a year at present although applications can be received out with the grant making cycle. Under these circumstances, the Secretary will screen applications against Trust criteria and if the application is found to be suitable, will then consult other trustees on their willingness to fund the application, always assuming funds are available.
The Trust’s website continues to prove an invaluable resource and has given many organisations a closer look at our work.
Investment portfolio
The Trust is able to fund suitable applications due to the legacy of the founders who placed shares of their own into a trust fund and the income from these shares provides the working capital for the trustees to disburse each year. The Trust’s portfolio continues to be managed by Greenbank Investments, according to ethical criteria of which the Trustees approve. During the year a number of the Trustees were able to meet with representatives from Greenbank and ethicalfutures to discuss options for a change in the management of the Trust portfolio and following the meeting were able to make some changes to the management of the portfolio that would allow for a slightly different management approach and a slightly better financial return on their investments. We are extremely grateful to colleagues at both Greenbank and ethical futures for their advice in this regard.
Looking forward
Trustees continue to be mindful of the HMRC rules on sending money to support charitable activities overseas where the charity itself is based overseas. Trustees therefore continued to make funds available to Signpost International to fund such works overseas as it sees appropriate.
This allows the Trust to continue to support groups which give practical expression to their faith in the life of society in Scotland and to UK based groups who work overseas for the same objectives.
While we lost the services of our secretary, Sylvia Marchant, we were delighted that our trustee Lucy Gall answered the call and has now stepped into the role of secretary. It was a great plesuer to also welcome the Rev Kevin Franz into the role of Chair but sadly Kevin is experiencing some health issues at this current time that has seen me recalled to sign off on the annual report and accounts. I know all the trustees wish Kevin a speedy recovery and we look forward to having him join us for next years AGM and meeting.
A further loss to the Trust is the service of Dr Marelene Finlayson who is steeping down at the 2026 AGM. Marlene has given generously of her time and talents serving as Secretary and Chair for periods of time. We will all miss her wise input into the meetings.
Grants provided during 2024 – 2025
Trustees have approved a total of 13 grants at their annual meeting in May 2025. The total amount of funding awarded was £ 10,040
The recipients of these grants are outlined below:
St Margaret of Scotland Hospice, Signpost International SCIO, Rowan Alba Ltd, Positive Action in Housing, Mother Earth Hindu Temple Glasgow, Kids Club Kampala, Kids Alive International, Hope Home Trust, Evergreen Africa, Deki, CURE International UK, Comfort International, Children of Rwanda.
On Behalf of the Claremont Trust
Reverend Ian Gilmour
Immediate past Chair and Trustee
May 2026