ENCHANTED FOREST COMMUNITY TRUST AWARDS NEARLY £4K IN DISCRETIONARY DONATIONS

The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, the charitable organisation behind Scotland’s favourite sound and light show, The Enchanted Forest, established for the economic benefit of the community, has awarded several discretionary donations to worthy organisations and groups within Highland Perthshire, amounting to £3,950, so far.

In addition to the £49,750 the Trust has awarded to 17 registered charities operating in Perthshire, the discretionary donations are for local organisations that are not registered charities or community interest groups and are made at the sole discretion of the trustees, considered at board meetings throughout the calendar year.

Organisations to have received the discretionary donations include the Dunkeld and Birnam Traditional Youth Music Group, Pitlochry in Bloom, Pitlochry Path Group, Perth Minorities Association, Pitlochry Music Festival, Pitlochry Winter Lights, Shopmobility, Perth and Kinross Scottish Women’s Institutes Young Dippers Group and 17th Perthshire Aberfeldy Scouts.

Dunkeld and Birnam Traditional Youth Group provides free weekly tuition and instrument provision in traditional Scottish music at Birnam Arts during term time for budding young musicians, providing the opportunity to play in traditional bands and perform live music. The group is not for profit and runs entirely on funding and donations.

Karys Watt, founder of the Dunkeld and Birnam Traditional Youth Group, alongside Gill Hunter, said: “Dunkeld & Birnam Traditional Youth Music Group is newly established with the aim of providing free tuition and instrument provision in trad music for those aged P5 – S6. Since our project started in April 2023, there have been 28 young people join the group so far, participating in either our group fiddle and accordion classes, or one of our traditional bands. We are a not-for-profit organisation operating on funding and donations, so we were thrilled to receive a discretionary donation from The Enchanted Forest Community Trust. Donations like these ensure we can continue running long term and provide opportunities for young persons in the area to experience all the benefits of playing music in groups and to continue our strong local and national heritage of playing traditional Scottish music.”

Nela Popovic, Executive Director of The Enchanted Forest Community Trust, said: “Thanks to the incredible success of the 2022 Enchanted Forest event we’ve been able to give back nearly £50,000 to registered charities operating in the Highland Perthshire region. But not only that, we’ve also been able to provide discretionary donations to several worthy organisations and groups in Highland Perthshire totalling £3,950.

“It’s been a great to hear how our donation to Dunkeld and Birnam Traditional Youth Music Group has been instrumental in helping these young people develop their skills in traditional Scottish music, enabling them to perform in front of an audience at Birnam Arts at their end of term show. It’s fantastic to see our vision of the Enchanted Forest Community Trust being an agent of lasting positive impact within the community in which the event is based come to life.”

The discretionary donations are separate to the Enchanted Forest Community Fund grants and any organisation wishing to be considered for a discretionary donation should complete an application form available on the website.