01 Identity
Scottish charity record
- OSCR charity number
- SC037980
- Status
- Active
- Regulatory type
- Standard
- Designated religious body
- No
- Geographical spread
- Operations cover all or most of Scotland
- Volunteers
- 1-50 volunteers
- Staff
- 11
- Postcode
- EH2 1DD
02 Purpose and work
What the charity exists to do
The Trust's principal activity is the development of tuition and pipe band programmes in state schools. The trust delivers: 1) Grants and guidance that help set up and support pipe band programmes for state schools. 2) Instrument lending schemes that lend bagpipes, B-flat chanters, small pipes, drum pads and chanters free of charge. 3) The Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships and the Summer MusicFest, both annually. 4) Paid apprenticeships and internships, often in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. 5) The Trust also advocates opportunities to learn pipes and drums on a par with orchestral instruments, and on a level that responds to pupil interest in learning. 6) The Trust has developed flexible programme models that respond to local and regional contexts, in partnership with local education authorities (LEAs), schools, community pipe bands, voluntary organisations and co-funders.
Charitable purposes
- the advancement of education
- the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science
Beneficiaries
- Children or young people
- Other charities or voluntary bodies
Activities
- It makes grants, donations, loans, gifts or pensions to individuals
- It makes grants, donations or gifts to organisations
- It carries out activities or services itself
Constitutional objectives
The Trustees shall hold and apply the Trust Fund only for purposes charitable in law, and specifically shall hold and apply it for the advancement of education, the arts, heritage and culture, and community development by:- (a) Encouraging, in particular (but not exclusively) across Scotland and amongst young people, the uptake and playing of the chanter, pipes and drums, and, if appropriate, such other musical instruments (traditional or otherwise) where they are used in the playing of music in combination with the pipes and/or highland drums. (b) Serving as a national organisation for the promotion and provision of tuition in piping and highland drumming, particularly through the establishment and development of school pipes bands. This shall include (but not be limited to) the administration and management of the Scottish Schools’ Piping Championships. and (c) Broadening young people’s education, in particular their musical and social skills.
03 Annual returns
Income and expenditure history
| Year end | Total income | Donations | Charitable activities income | Trading income | Investment income | Other income | Total expenditure | Raising funds | Charitable activities spending | Other spending | Staff | Return received |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2026 | £2,678,000 | £2,509,770 | £77,634 | £0 | £88,187 | £2,409 | £671,235 | £0 | £671,235 | £0 | 11 | 7 July 2026 |
| 31 March 2025 | £470,496 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £701,754 | £0 | £0 | £0 | 11 | 13 August 2025 |
| 31 March 2024 | £377,462 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £511,212 | £0 | £0 | £0 | 11 | 19 November 2024 |
| 31 March 2023 | £335,001 | £299,593 | £4,385 | £0 | £29,993 | £1,030 | £519,195 | £0 | £519,195 | £0 | 11 | 18 August 2023 |
| 31 March 2022 | £313,172 | £304,683 | £1,703 | £0 | £6,786 | £0 | £568,715 | £0 | £568,715 | £0 | 11 | 24 October 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
- Room 1, Thistle Court, 1-2 Thistle Street, Edinburgh
- Website supplied to OSCR
- http://www.sspdt.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.