Fund chief in £900k charity bid

A CITY fund manager from Greenock is launching a scheme to raise £900,000 and recruit “business champions” for Columba 1400, a charity that helps young people from deprived areas to turn around their lives.

Malcolm Offord, from Charterhouse Capital Partners, is chairman of the charity and wants to find 30 champions, who will each contribute £30,000 over the next three years.

Founded in 1997 by Norman Drummond, a former headmaster at Loretto School in Musselburgh, the charity has helped 5,000 youngsters to attend its “leadership academies” at Loch Lomond and Skye.

Research firm New Philanthropy Capital estimates that, for every £1 spent on the academies, the return in “positive benefits” for society was £2.50.

Offord said: “Entrepreneurs like to back winners and we can demonstrate Columba 1400 provides a unique product that is both proven and successful.

Existing supporters include timber firm James Donaldson & Sons, which works with Columba 1400 to help young people from Fife’s Levenmouth area.