Five of Scotland’s most generous philanthropists in 2015

With the news that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg will give $45bn to charity over the rest of his life, we look at this year’s most charitable Scot who are also making an impact with their global giving

Andy Murray has joined a long list of famous Scots who have donated to charitable causes. Photo: Jane Barlow

ANDY MURRAY

The Scottish tennis ace is well-known for inviting children with terminal diseases onto the court as part of his work with the Make-A-Wish foundation. Apart from this work, Murray pledged in September this year to give £50 to international charity UNICEF for every ace that he struck for the remainder of the year.

Murray’s decision to donate came about as a result of the refugee crisis in Syria and the Middle East, with his main sponsors the Lawn Tennis Association and Standard Life also pitching in £50 for every Murray ace.

KAREN GILLAN

Inverness-born Gillan is most famous for her 2009 role in the BBC’s Doctor Who, but her individual act of philanthropy earlier this year put her acting skills to the test in a different manner entirely.

In September, she took part in the #15SecondShakespeare challenge online, which saw her film the chorus of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” to raise money for The Red Cross. Other celebrities to complete the challenge include Rita Ora, Michael Sheen and Rahul Kohli.

SIR ALEX FERGUSON

Lulu, seen here performaning at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony last year, has supported Maggie's cancer charity in the past.

One of European football’s most successful managers with Manchester United and Aberdeen FC, Ferguson donated £5000 earlier this year to build a statue of an unlikely First World War hero.

His support of the Remember Mary Barbour fund will see a statue of the woman responsible for initiating the Glasgow Rent Strikes erected in Govan.

The sum given for the memorial is roughly ten times that of the donation Ferguson gave to the Better Together organisation before the September 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum.

LULU

The Lennoxtown singer performed a special charity concert at the Wickerman festival this July, in an attempt to raise money for cancer charity Maggie’s.

With an undisclosed number of cash donation made “on the doors”, Lulu also stayed behind for a question-and-answer session with her fans.

SIR IAN WOOD

The Aberdeen-born businessman rose to prominence from the 1960s by pioneering investment and expansion into the lucrative oil fields of the North Sea. Now aged 73, Wood has donated £25m of his fortune to form a new economic development body in the North-east called One.

This donation follows up his decision to gift Aberdeen Royal Infirmary £10m towards the construction of a new patient and visitor car park at the hospital in May, with this donation given through his charity The Wood Group Foundation.