Grants issued to teachers from a £1.8 million north-east fund have “plummeted” since the cash was directly linked to the slave trade.
But the trustees of the controversial Dick Bequest have defiantly vowed to continue to “actively encourage” applications from teachers in Moray and Aberdeenshire.
Newly-published accounts for the trust show there were 22 applications for grants in 2021, down from 42 in 2020.
The amount paid to teachers in the area last year was £22,125, compared to £43,599 in the previous year.
A further £6,725 was awarded to local schools for the purchase of equipment last year.
The bequest was established following the death in 1828 of Forres-born merchant James Dick.
However, we revealed in May last year that two historians, David Alston and Donald Morrison, had found that Dick made his fortune as a slave trader in Jamaica.
They called for the remaining money to be repatriated, but the future of the cash remains uncertain more than a year later.
The accounts for last year show the value of the bequest had increased from £1.638m to £1.8m by the end of December.
Despite only issuing just more than £25,000 in grants last year, the documents reveal almost £20,000 was spent on “support costs”, mainly secretary’s fees.
Costs ‘astonishing’
Mr Alston branded the level of administrative costs “astonishing”.
He said: “The accounts of the Dick Bequest Trust for 2021 have now been released by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) showing that their funds now stand at £1.8m.
“Early in that year we made the governors aware that their funds were derived from the slave-trade and argued that they should now be returned to Jamaica.
“At that point the governors would have had a number of application to the trust on the table and they obviously approved a number of grants.
“However, it is clear that after that, when local authorities, schools and teachers became aware of the origins of the trust, applications plummeted.”
Aberdeenshire Council has cut ties with the Dick Bequest while Moray Council is lobbying the Scottish Government to intervene to resolve the future of the trust.
Mr Alston said: “It is time for the remaining governors of the Dick Bequest – five of whom are appointed by the Edinburgh-based Society of Writers to the Signet – to end the secrecy, reveal who they are, and take steps to wind up the trust or direct all future benefit to Jamaica.”
However, a spokeswoman for the trust said: “The governors continue to receive grant applications and these are actively encouraged by the trustees in line with the requirements of the trust’s governing document.
“As regards the accounts, these do indeed require to be lodged with OSCR and the financial information contained therein is a matter of public record.
“In line with all accounts published by OSCR, the names of individual trustees are not made public under data protection legislation and to maintain confidentiality.
“This is true for all trusts and not just Dick Bequest.”