IF YOU’RE passionate about Dunfermline you can get involved in handing out up to £150,000 a year to make it a better place.

The Carnegie Dunfermline Trust (CDT) are keen to recruit up to four new trustees to the board and help the town get back to its feet after the pandemic.

Chief executive Gillian Taylor said: “We’re looking for people who have that passion for Dunfermline and we currently have a very committed bunch who give their time and experience to the board.

“Most of our trustees have grown up here and have benefited from Carnegie’s work, whether that’s the library, swimming pool, theatre, funding that was received when they were at school for different events or they’re passionate about the Glen.

“In many cases, they’ve built their career and now want to give something back as they appreciate what a great place it was to grow up.

“I think it’s particularly relevant just now as we see the trust as having a role to play in the town’s recovery from COVID.”

Among Andrew Carnegie’s many good deeds, the philanthropist put in place a number of trusts to ensure his money could continue to do good work long after he’d gone.

The CDT was founded in 1903 with the purpose of adding value to the lives of the people of his home town, and they’ve been striving to fulfil his wishes ever since.

Gillian said: “We have a very small staff resource, they’re a great team, and we’re looking for trustees to help us carry on the legacy that Andrew Carnegie left.

“He left money to bring sweetness and light to Dunfermline and he would want us as a trust to support our community and help as much as we can.”

Trustees are volunteers who serve for seven years, a term that can be extended, and they’re especially keen to attract applicants who work in, or have experience of, the emergency services, social work/social care, museum or curatorial work, retail, marketing, legal and IT.

She explained: “We’re looking for a wide range of people and ages and backgrounds, we’re hoping to encourage younger people to be involved, as well as people from different ethnic backgrounds and disability groups.

“There’s an application process and an interview stage to go through but it’s open to anybody and there’ll be a full induction for a new trustee.”

“It’s as much time as they can give. We have people on the board who took early retirement but also people, such as the Abbey minister and a primary school headteacher, who have full-time jobs.

“We work with them and try not to overburden them.” And the chief executive added: “The board meets every two months for a couple of hours and there are also sub-committees, such as the museum, there’s one for finance and investment and another for the hero fund, so depending on what their interest is they can be involved in a sub-committee.

“There’s also the grant-giving programme; trustees are involved in reviewing grant applications and awarding money to local good causes, and we support a lot of events too.

“We share the building in Dunfermline with the UK trust and universities trust and we have connections with Carnegie trusts around the world.

“Being part of that wider Carnegie family gives trustees, particularly the chairperson, the opportunity to work with those other trusts and attend events in, for example, the United States.”

To apply or find out more, email gillian.taylor@carnegietrust.com