01 Identity
Scottish charity record
- OSCR charity number
- SC049635
- Status
- Active
- Regulatory type
- Standard
- Designated religious body
- No
- Geographical spread
- Scotland and other parts of the UK
- Volunteers
- 0 volunteers
- Staff
- 2
- Postcode
- EH3 8EJ
02 Purpose and work
What the charity exists to do
The William Syson Foundation supports the advancement of the arts, heritage and culture, with a particular focus on organisations based in Scotland. We aim to enrich lives through supporting the professional delivery of the arts. We achieve our charitable purposes by awarding grants to arts and cultural organisations across a range of disciplines, including music, theatre, dance, literature, film and visual arts. Through our grant-making programmes and strategic funding initiatives, we support activity that enables people to create, participate in and enjoy the arts. In addition, we run the annual Beatrice Huntington Award for Cellists, which recognises and supports talented young musicians.
Charitable purposes
- the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science
Beneficiaries
- Other defined groups
- No specific group, or for the benefit of the community
Activities
- It makes grants, donations, loans, gifts or pensions to individuals
- It makes grants, donations or gifts to organisations
Constitutional objectives
the company's objects are: (a) the advancement of the arts, heritage and culture, including (but not restricted to) promoting, developing and ensuring the practice and enjoyment of the arts, including music, the visual arts, theatre and literature as the directors in their absolute and uncontrolled discretion think fit. (b) without prejudice to the forgoing generality, the charity will have a particular (but not exclusive) focus on Scottish organisations and individuals resident in Scotland.
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 December 2025 | £517,081 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £517,081 | £0 | £739,432 | £68,045 | £671,387 | £0 | 2 | 22 June 2026 |
| 31 December 2024 | £431,158 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £724,823 | £0 | £0 | £0 | 2 | 25 June 2025 |
| 31 December 2023 | £402,724 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £704,701 | £0 | £0 | £0 | 2 | 13 June 2024 |
| 31 December 2022 | £402,677 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £402,677 | £0 | £690,289 | £70,897 | £619,392 | £0 | 2 | 26 June 2023 |
| 31 December 2021 | £322,790 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £322,790 | £0 | £601,600 | £93,200 | £508,400 | £0 | 2 | 27 May 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
- 5 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh
- Website supplied to OSCR
- www.williamsysonfoundation.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.