New Initiatives Award

Entrepreneurial husband-and-wife team Angus and Michie MacDonald’s pragmatic approach to tackling the ongoing decline of communities in the highlands of Scotland has won them the Beacon New Initiatives Award.

In 2006 they significantly adapted their charitable giving through their Moidart Trust to a new initiative focused on local enterprise in rural, isolated and dispersed communities in the West and North-West of Scotland. Their grants support their theory of change: ‘invest in small yet ambitious local businesses, the wealth and job creation will follow and community will regenerate’.

Angus MacDonald explains the inspiration to help was their concern that the spirit of enterprise was deserting the area: “Local people with get up and go were leaving, often for educational reasons, and not returning. We felt we could help by stimulating and expanding the local businesses people had proved they had the gumption to start.
“Being able to keep young locals in the highlands and islands rather than see them head off for a job in the South has been a challenge for hundreds of years. If the Moidart Trust can make a difference here we would be thrilled.”

MacDonald is also the founder of the Caledonian Challenge, in which teams are sponsored to cover 54 miles of Scotland’s finest scenery in 24 hours, and raise money for local communities.

He admits to plagiarising the idea from Hong Kong. Since its inception in 1996 it has raised more than £10m and attracted 15000 participants.

Angus MacDonald has completed the challenge eight times: “I dread it,” he says. Though now not running it physically he does organise it, with the MacDonald’s hallmark entrepreneurial approach: “It is run as a business, with sales targets and a proper management team,” he says.

In making the award, chairman of the Beacon Awards judging panel Stephen Cohen said: “The Caledonian Challenge is a fantastic institution and the Moidart Trust shows an intelligent and caring approach to the well-being of an oft-overlooked community.”

MacDonald said: “We are thrilled to have won and think the Beacon concept is a wonderful idea.”