Charity Details

The Faculty of Advocates Abbotsford Collection Trust

SC042109Registered charity from 16 February 2011

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Charity Information:

The Name the Charity is Known By Collections Trust

Address The Faculty of Advocates
Parliament House
Edinburgh

Postcode EH1 1RF

Website No Link Provided

Regulatory Type Standard

Object:

3.1 The Trustees shall hold the Trust Fund for the advancement of education and the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science by maintaining and preserving the Collections for the benefit of the public and facilitating the use of the Collections as an educational resource at Abbotsford, Melrose or elsewhere in accordance with the provisions of this Trust ("the Primary Purpose"). 3.2 In the event of the failure of the Primary Purpose, the Trustees shall hold the Trust Fund for such similar Charitable Purposes to the Primary Purpose as they may from time to time determine. "Charitable Purposes" means purposes only as are within the meaning of charitable purpose in terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 as amended or superseded from time to time which are also regarded as charitable purposes in relation to the application of the Taxes Acts from time to time in force. 3.3 In the event of the failure of the Primary Purpose and the failure of the Trustees to identify suitable similar purposes in accordance with Clause 3.2 hereof the Trustees may resolve to transfer the Trust Fund to the Faculty Fund of the Faculty of Advocates (registered charity number SC010773) or such charitable body as may be its successor body as the Trustees in their discretion shall decide. 3.4 The Primary Purpose, and in the event of the failure of the Primary Purpose, the purposes contained in clauses 3.2 and 3.3 are referred to as the "Purposes".

Operations:

What the charity is set up to do and how it does this:

The library at Abbotsford is the personal library of Sir Walter Scott, preserved in situ at Abbotsford in Melrose. It remains one of the most intact writers’ libraries in the world. Scott’s library came under the care of the Faculty of Advocates on the breaking of an 1839 Deed of Entail. In partnership with Abbotsford, FAACT supports the preservation, cataloguing, research, and public access of this unique collection. The staff of the Advocates Library contribute to this support. Through FAACT’s ongoing care, this extraordinary cultural asset remains protected and accessible, preserving Sir Walter Scott’s dual legacy as Advocate and author.

Charity Status: Active

Constitutional Form: Trust (founding document is a deed of trust) (other than educational endowment)

Constitutional Form Date: 16 Feb 2011

Main Operating Location: Scottish Borders

Number of Staff: 0

Number of Volunteers: 0

Purposes: "the advancement of education", "the advancement of the arts, heritage, culture or science"

Beneficiaries: "No specific group, or for the benefit of the community"

Types Of Activity Undertaken: "It carries out activities or services itself"

Annual Submissions:

Year End	Income	Expenditure	Annual Return Received	Accounts Received	Latest Annual Reports and Accounts
31 Mar 2022	£188	£0	03 Aug 2023	Yes
31 Mar 2023	£0	£0	03 Aug 2023	Yes
31 Mar 2024	£197	£0	16 Dec 2024	Yes
31 Mar 2025	£0	£0	18 Dec 2025	Yes	Not published by OSCR
31 Mar 2026			No	Annual Information due by 31 Dec 2026
If an annual return has been received on time (within nine months of the Year End Date), the 'Annual Return Received' box is green . If an annual return is late, the box is red .

Income and Expenditure:

Charity Trustees:

First Name	Last Name
No charity trustee information available
From 09 March 2026, OSCR is required by law to publish the names of a charity’s trustees as part of its Scottish Charity Register entry. We are also required to publish each charity’s annual report and accounts as received from this date, which may include the names of certain individuals. The only exceptions to publication are where a charity or one of its charity trustees applies for this information to be excluded, and OSCR is satisfied that publishing it would jeopardise the safety or security of a person or premises. If the charity trustee information on a Register entry appears blank, this may mean that an exemption applies or that the charity has not yet provided the required details to OSCR. Supplying this information will become mandatory as part of future annual submissions.

First Name

Last Name

No charity trustee information available

From 09 March 2026, OSCR is required by law to publish the names of a charity’s trustees as part of its Scottish Charity Register entry. We are also required to publish each charity’s annual report and accounts as received from this date, which may include the names of certain individuals. The only exceptions to publication are where a charity or one of its charity trustees applies for this information to be excluded, and OSCR is satisfied that publishing it would jeopardise the safety or security of a person or premises.

If the charity trustee information on a Register entry appears blank, this may mean that an exemption applies or that the charity has not yet provided the required details to OSCR. Supplying this information will become mandatory as part of future annual submissions.

From 30 June 2025, OSCR began collecting charity trustee information through OSCR Online. Providing this information is a legal requirement for all charities. The names of trustees will be published on the Scottish Charity Register from early 2026 to promote transparency and strengthen public trust in the sector.

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The Scottish Charity Register is licenced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

When you use this information under the OGL, you should include the following attribution: © Crown Copyright and database right 2020. 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.

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The Scottish Charity Register contains key information about a charity’s operations and finances. This includes:

the names of a charity’s trustees (exemptions apply)
its annual report and full accounts, if submitted after 9 March 2026
(Accounts submitted prior to 9 March 2026 will be redacted, or may not be published, depending on the charity’s income level or legal form.)

These changes are designed to improve transparency across the charity sector in Scotland.

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Under section 23(1)(a) and (b) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, you have the right to request the following information directly from the charity:

a copy of the charity’s latest statement of accounts
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