OSCR Scottish charity profile

The Merchant Company Endowments Trust

ActiveCharity number SC002002
Registered1 January 1902
Main locationCity of Edinburgh
Legal formStatutory corporation (Royal Charter etc)

01 Identity

Scottish charity record

Snapshot 25 August 2026
OSCR charity number
SC002002
Status
Active
Regulatory type
Standard
Designated religious body
No
Geographical spread
More than one local authority area in Scotland
Volunteers
1-50 volunteers
Staff
0
Postcode
EH2 2EP

02 Purpose and work

What the charity exists to do

The objective of the Trust is to provide assistance to decent, peaceable men and women aged at least 55 on 1 July in the year of their election, unless, at a younger age they are certified on medical grounds as being unable to earn their living. Beneficiaries must be persons who have lived or worked in the City of Edinburgh or the County of Midlothian. Assistance may be given by way of cash grant, pension, gift of appliances, provision of accommodation and other support. The Trust funds an Almoner to give personal contact and further finance and care to beneficiaries where needed. The Trust consists of general funds which are also applied in connection with running the Sir William Fraser Homes (The Fraser Trust). There are also two funds which are administered separately by the Trust. The Russell and Foster Endowment and The Sir John Foster Fraser Bequest. The Trust owns two groups of flats which are rented at social housing and mixed rent rates to frail and elderly people.

Charitable purposes

  • the prevention or relief of poverty
  • the advancement of health
  • the relief of those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
  • any other purpose that may reasonably be regarded as analogous to any of the preceding purposes

Beneficiaries

  • Older People

Activities

  • It makes grants, donations, loans, gifts or pensions to individuals
  • It carries out activities or services itself

Constitutional objectives

The prevention and relief of poverty. The advancement of health. The relief of those in need by reason of age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage. Analogous Purposes.

03 Annual returns

Income and expenditure history

5 periods
Year endIncomeExpenditureStaffReturn received
31 July 2025£922,035£788,706025 March 2026
31 July 2024£895,000£1,072,000029 April 2025
31 July 2023£1,071,037£736,520029 February 2024
31 July 2022£1,044,447£804,690026 April 2023
31 July 2021£1,009,355£611,650022 March 2022

Figures are those reported by the charity and supplied in the OSCR bulk download. Blank facts remain distinct from zero.

04 Contact record

Principal office or trustees address

Address supplied to OSCR
The Merchant Hall, 22 Hanover Street, Edinburgh
Website supplied to OSCR
www.mcoe.org.uk
Parent charity
Not supplied

No direct external links on this profile. The official OSCR record and source documentation are available through BritDB’s dedicated source page.

05 Provenance

Source for this profile

© Crown Copyright and database right 2026. Contains information from the Scottish Charity Register supplied by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. BritDB is an independent service and does not claim to be the Scottish Charity Register.