Our Purpose
Arthur Kinmond Bell, the founder of the Gannochy Trust, was a noted visionary who delivered his philanthropy with unassuming reserve. An extremely able businessman, with considerable foresight and acumen, he established the Gannochy Trust in 1937, for charitable and public purposes.
The Trust’s three year Strategic Plan supports the objectives set out by A K Bell in the Trust Deed. The Gannochy Trust aims to use its resources to achieve the following strategic aims:
- Our Housing: Provide affordable, high quality, energy efficient houses of character, vision and design in an attractive physical environment. Improve existing housing where appropriate and develop exemplar new housing sympathetic to A K Bell’s original vision.
- Our Estate: Grow, develop and create safe, attractive green spaces for play, learning, creativity and active travel, while improving wildlife habitats and increasing biodiversity
- Community: Increase the use of the Trust’s land and buildings, actively engage communities and develop opportunities, activities and services to improve the quality of life for the people of Perth and across Scotland.
- Our Grant-making: Be a responsive and engaged funder for organisations that develop, inspire and improve peoples’ lives, in particular children, young people and people who are disadvantaged or vulnerable. Support projects which improve the availability or quality of the built and natural environment for wide community use.
People, Resources and Organisational Development: Strive for fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in the running of the Trust and to inspire and empower our staff and trustees, giving them the support and tools that they need to deliver the best possible outcomes for the Trust.
Our Vision
“A K Bell’s prudence and foresight, combining concern for others with far-reaching vision, continues to guide the Trust’s investment in its assets and the communities it supports.”
The Gannochy Trust was founded in 1937 by Scottish businessman and philanthropist Arthur Kinmond Bell, known as A K. His vision for philanthropic pursuits was ahead of its time and continues to shape The Gannochy Trust’s charitable activities to this day.
Arthur Kinmond Bell was the son of Arthur Bell, founder of the family whisky business known eventually as Arthur Bell and Sons. Towards the end of the 19th Century, A K took advantage of a perfect storm of opportunity to build the family whisky business. The invention of the patent Coffer Still that could produce blended whiskies in greater quantities, combined with the decline of the French Cognac sector and improved rail and sea networks, helped open new markets at home and abroad, transforming the Scotch Whisky sector from a ‘cottage’ industry into a global phenomenon.
After the first world war, when the Great Depression hit hard and the welfare state was still in its infancy, A K Bell used some of his personal fortune from the whisky business to embark on a series of philanthropic ventures, culminating in the founding of the Gannochy Trust in 1937. Through the Gannochy Trust, A K Bell ensured that his philanthropy would continue to support charitable projects in Perth and Kinross and throughout Scotland, well into the future.
Management and administrative staff
- Chief Executive: Joanna McCreadie
- Estates Manager: Mr Andy Duncan
- Assistant Estates Manager (Property): Mr Bob McFarlane
- Grants Manager: Mrs Fiona Russell
- Development Manager: Mr Steven Greig
- Administrator: Mrs Carole Redford
- Tenancy & Finance Administrator: Mrs Jackie Blair
- Tenancy Officer: Ms Carol Annand
Estate staff
- Assistant Estates Manager (Gardens and Grounds) Mr Alastair Morgan
- Cricket Groundsman: Greg Denton
- Gardens and Grounds workers
- Mr Euan Sinclair
- Mr Lee Easton
- Mr Brian MacLean
- Mr David Drysdale
- Mr Ryan Foster
Our Trustees
- Mr David Gray (Chairman)
- Mrs Jane Mudd
- Mr Stephen Hay (Vice Chairman)
- Mrs Ailsa Macmillan
- Mrs Ruth Ogston
- Mr Bruce Renfrew
- Mr Roland Bean
