Learning from mistakes in philanthropy
On a chilly October evening, down a hidden cobbled street in the west end of Edinburgh, you wouldn't normally expect to see so many well-known businessmen and women congregate in a little library. So why was everyone here?
The venue for this gathering was the Library of Mistakes, a small but beautiful library focused on the world's business and financial history. And in keeping with the name, we had gathered a group of philanthropists to discuss their mistakes in philanthropy.
The guest speaker for the evening was Sir John Timpson CBE. Sir John is a celebrated and decorated businessman as Chairman and owner of Timpsons, and is equally regarded and admired for his many charitable activities and endeavours. Sir John opened the event with a short history on how Timpsons' instilled a culture of giving amongst it's staff and customers, his relationships with several charities and the launching of the Alex Timpson Trust in honor of his late wife. He was then joined on stage by Anne McFarlane, from the Ryvoan Trust and Sir Peter Vardy from the Peter Vardy Foundation.
The three panellists all shared their wisdom on lessons learnt whilst setting up and managing their own trusts and foundations. We heard about the impact of family dynamics when it comes to decision-making; they discussed different ways of instilling a culture of giving in the workplace and shared their thoughts on the future of philanthropy and ‘The Road to Success’.
When discussing his son James' proposal that Timpson's employed ex-prisoners, Sir John told us,
"If we're talking about mistakes, my big mistake was not believing that James was an absolute winner. I concentrated on the negatives that my mind was saying, what will the customer say? And, in fact, I couldn't have been more wrong. We've got about 500 of the most fantastic people working for us right now, who all joined us from prison"
Advising anyone who was thinking about setting up a trust or foundation in the future, Sir Peter Vardy had this piece of advice for the audience:
"If something gets you makes you angry, do something about it. If something gets you excited, get more involved in it. We can all do something to help"
Other panellists on the evening included Emily Ward, who discussed her experiences being part of a family foundation set up by her father, Fiona Burroughs, daughter of Anne McFarlane and Claire Urquhart who also helps to run her family's trust. The whole panel also discussed their views on what philanthropy might look like for future generations with changes in technology and giving behaviour both influencing the road ahead.
Attended by more than 60 friends, business associates and supporters, the evening concluded with a highly engaging Q&A session between the audience and the panellists.
Chief Executive for Foundation Scotland, Giles Ruck, said:
"This was our first in-person gathering for a few years and provided a long overdue opportunity for everyone to reconnect with one another and make new acquaintances. Not everyone likes to admit making mistakes, but the lessons learnt and shared with tonight's audience provided vital learnings for future generations. I thank everyone for taking the time to join in the discussions and for contributing to a thoroughly enjoyable evening for all".