Charity for widows stops giving 19th century grants

Fundraising | Vibeka Mair | 8 Mar 2010

A Scottish charity for widows which could only give beneficiaries £25 or less has had its century-old law on donations repealed by the Scottish parliament.

MSPs have agreed to repeal the law that confined the Ure Elder Fund for Indigent Widow Ladies in Glasgow to making donations of £25 or less.

The fund, set up by Glasgow philanthropist Isabella Ure Elder in 1906, offered an annual grant of £25 - £2,300 at 2009 prices - to widows living in Govan or Glasgow. The amount was restricted by an Act of Parliament in the 1900s and stuck to this day.

The trust asked to lift the payment cap and widen eligibility for payments last year.

The Ure Elder Fund Transfer and Dissolution Bill was unanimously agreed following a vote at Holyrood last week.

After the vote, a a committee of MSPs said that a review should be undertaken of other Scottish charities set up under their own legislation, to see whether they can be helped to modernise without having to promote a further Act. About 185 other Scottish charities have been established under similar legislation.

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