The Carnegie UK Trust, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and the Carnegie Dunfermline & Hero Fund Trusts

For general release from midnight on Wednesday, 19th December, 2007.

ROYAL OPENING FOR ‘PAVILION IN THE PARK’

New £2.9m joint HQ for Carnegie trusts

HRH The Princess Royal is to perform the official opening in Dunfermline on Wednesday, 13th February, of the iconic new £2.9 million headquarters of the four British-based Carnegie charitable trusts.

The Carnegie UK Trust, the Carnegie Dunfermline & Hero Fund Trusts and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland this week began co-locating in their bespoke new building on the northern rim of Pittencrieff Park - the “childhood paradise” which the Scots-American steel king, Andrew Carnegie, gifted to the people of his native city in 1903.

Andrew Carnegie House – named after the trusts’ founder and the father of modern philanthropy - will develop the synergies between a cutting-edge community-based trust and sister trusts engaged in higher education, research and policy advocacy, as well as support for injured heroes or their surviving dependants.

As leader of the co-location project, William Thomson – honorary president of the Carnegie UK Trust and a great-grandson of Andrew Carnegie - has expressed the hope that it will be seen as a centre for creative and innovative philanthropy for Scotland and the UK.

“The fact that the four UK trusts have constructed a joint headquarters is a forward move that Andrew Carnegie would have applauded,” he said.

Co-location costs have been largely offset by the proceeds of the sale of the trusts’ period headquarters in central Dunfermline.
The design of the new eco-friendly HQ reflects the “strategic and dynamic vision” of the work of the Carnegie trusts in Britain and Ireland as they confront the philanthropic challenges of the 21st century.

Page\Park - the Glasgow-based architects who have just collected a major architectural award for the Maggie’s Highlands Cancer Caring Centre in Inverness - have described their futuristic design concept, with its curved timber and glass elevations, as a “pavilion in the park.”

Sustainable features include ground-source eco-thermal heating, which is carbon neutral with reversible heating/cooling options.
Chairman of the Carnegie Dunfermline and Hero Fund Trustees, Angus Hogg, said, “We are delighted the Princess Royal has agreed to open our new building. With the increased interactivity between the trusts, not only in UK terms but internationally, co-location makes for more efficiency for both staff and trustees.

“While retaining our distinct remits, we see the coming together of the Carnegie ‘family’ as an opportunity for closer synergies between the trusts while delivering economies of scale to maximise the funding benefits for the people of Scotland, the UK and Ireland.”

Sir David Edward, chairman of the Universities Trust, said, “We are delighted to be opening the new century with the other Carnegie trusts in this remarkable new building. Our trust has supported the Scottish universities and their students for over a century. Indeed, in the early 1900s, the trust contributed twice as much as the government!

“Things are very different now, but our aim remains the same - to promote excellence in the work of the universities and, in Carnegie’s words, to give support to those who are qualified and deserving, industrious and ambitious.”

Tony Pender, chair of the Carnegie UK Trust, added, “The move into these very attractive and efficient new offices, alongside our sister trusts, is a re-affirmation that Dunfermline remains an excellent location from which to carry out our work throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“Meeting near Andrew Carnegie’s birthplace is also a constant reminder of the responsibility that the trust has to pursue his commitment to greater social justice.”

Press contact: Bill Livingstone, communications convener, Carnegie UK Trust: tel 01383 728201. Mobile: 07770681034.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Andrew Carnegie is now recognised as the world’s first capitalist philanthropist, and a role model for the new generation of philanthropists, from Bill Gates to Scotland’s Sir Tom Hunter. Carnegie was at one time the richest man in the world. His dictum was ‘to die rich is to die disgraced,’ and he spent the last 20 years of his life giving almost all of his wealth away. There are currently over 20 Carnegie trusts and institutions worldwide, four of which are in Scotland, working to support a more just, democratic, peaceful and sustainable world.