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Trusts & Foundations

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Would you like to make an award to Scottish Ballet through a trust or foundation? 

Relationships. We are proud that many trusts and foundations choose to continue working with us past an initial award. We put this down to the relationships we nurture during a grant period and the impact we are making together through our projects.

If you are a trustee, or grants officer, and would like to find out more about how Scottish Ballet works with trusts and foundations, below are some of the projects which demonstrate our values of innovation, inclusion and excellence.

To speak to us about how your trust or foundation can support our charitable activities, please contact Sarah Potter, Senior Copywriter – sarah.potter@scottishballet.co.uk.

Principal dancer, Bruno Michiardi, dressed in black, stands centre stage looking up with his hands up. Dancers stand around him in green and blue, hands outstretched towards him and looking down.

Working with trusts & foundations: Innovation

New Work – Next Generation Campaign

Trusts and foundations are helping us to house ten Creative Associates to create ten new works. The Creative Associates will be early to mid-career choreographers, costume & set designers, composers, and film-makers from diverse backgrounds.

Their work will inspire new audiences and communities, promoting Scotland’s national dance company on the world stage. There is no shortage of emerging artists, but barriers to opportunity remain.

Providing a welcoming and nurturing environment for creatives from a wide range of backgrounds and specialisms will ensure dance remains relevant and inspiring to future generations.

Achievements in screen & media

From poetry to motion capture, we collaborate with artists working in different disciplines. We encourage experimentation with multimedia platforms, such as 360-degree technology.

Trusts and foundations have made it possible for us to lead in the digital dance space including being one of the first ballet companies to produce a digital season, the Safe to be Me digital festival, Secret Theatre and our hybrid digital live production, Coppélia.

A teacher in a blue Scottish Ballet t-shirt demonstrates pointing one foot, which people holding onto the ballet barre mirror.

Working with trusts & foundations: Inclusion

Making Theatre Accessible to All

Our Relaxed Performances have been adapted so that families and communities living with learning disabilities and dementia can access a positive experience of dance, live music, theatre, and the arts. We aim to inspire, lift morale, and encourage a life long engagement with dance and music.

Scottish Ballet’s audio description programme enables visually impaired patrons to experience the beauty of dance and we are committed to offering BSL interpreted pre-show talks.

A Welcoming Space for All

In 2020, Scottish Ballet established an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) committee to encourage more company members to feel brave and empowered to make actionable change. The committee discuss and make recommendations on how Scottish Ballet can continue to confront discrimination beyond the nine protected characteristics, which include age, disability and race.

Scottish Ballet are committed to our value of inclusion, thanks to funding from trusts and foundations, 109 Scottish Ballet company members, including Board members, leaders, staff and dancers have engaged in a continuing programme of anti-racism training. .

Dance Health

SB Health is Scottish Ballet’s health initiative ensuring everyone can experience the joy of dance.

Since 2013, we have been dancing with young people who have faced adversity in childhood and families who live with neurological conditions. With the help of these communities and our partners, we have developed seven dance programmes to bring movement and joy to:

 

  • People living with multiple sclerosis, including their carers and families, Elevate®
  • People living with Parkinson’s, including their carers and families
  • People living with dementia, including their carers and families, Time to Dance®
  • People living with long Covid, Emerge
  • Young people who have faced adversity and their support workers
  • Young people, schools and educators
  • Dance artists, musicians and artists
  • Health and social care professionals
  • Adults and young people who face barriers to accessing activity due to their sexual orientation, gender expression, ethnicity, cultural background or disability, Safe to be Me®

As a total non-dancer, Scottish Ballet has opened my mind and confidence. I feel that my body is responding to the moves, my brain embraces the instructions and wonderful live music. I leave the class with such happiness. I smiled all day.

Participant

Working with trusts & foundations: Excellence

Talent & Professional Development 

Scottish Ballet’s Associate Programme has been running for over 30 years and is the first step in the professional career for many aspiring dancers from all over Scotland. Trusts have made it possible for our Associate Programme to accept over 200 candidates aged eight to 15 years old each year, they have also extended their awards to provide further development opportunities for our candidates.

Our Youth Exchange Programme (YEX) simulates a professional touring company. So far, YEX dancers have travelled to Singapore, New York, and Turin. TEX will partake in another international tour this year.

We are  committed to helping develop new choreographers and offer regular opportunities for professionals and emerging talent to grow their choreographic skills.

Live Music

An intrinsic part of dance. As well as presenting The Scottish Ballet Orchestra, our aim is to make live, professional music that accompanies dance as widely accessible as possible. Support from trusts and foundations make it possible for us to include our musicians in our training programmes and to travel with us on tours to remote communities.

Performing

Trusts and foundations make it possible for us to take to the stage, creating costumes, purchasing props and keeping us en pointe in our shoes. Your support help us to reach more people, from Orkney to the USA.

Would you like to know more?

To speak to us about how your trust or foundation can support our charitable activities, please contact Sarah Potter, Senior Copywriter – sarah.potter@scottishballet.co.uk.

Scottish Ballet is generously funded by:

Bently Foundation

The Castansa Trust

CMS Charitable Trust

Cruden Foundation

The Esterson Trust

The Gannochy Trust

The Garrick Club Charitable Trust

The Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust

Harbinson Charitable Trust

The Hugh Fraser Foundation

John Ellerman Foundation

John Mather Trust

JTH Charitable Trust

Linbury Trust

The Marquesado Trust

The Meikle Foundation

Mickel Fund

The Rayne Foundation

The RS MacDonald Charitable Trust

Sylvia Aitken’s Charitable Trust

Tay Charitable Trust

W A Cargill Fund

Walter Scott Giving Group

The William Syson Foundation

& one anonymous foundation

Scottish Ballet makes a commitment to individuals, trusts and foundations that make financial contributions towards our work; to be honest and transparent, respect privacy, and apply gifts responsibly to their intended purpose. Scottish Ballet undertakes to comply with all relevant laws including tax legislation, the Data Protection Act 1998, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and the Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Fundraising Practice.