About the Trust
Legal Information
The Trust is a company limit by guarantee. It is a charity registered in Scotland with registration number SC013784 Current Trustees Prof A.Lawrence Prof E.I. Robson Prof J.Dunlop Prof G.S.Wright Mr I.Murray, M.P. Mr T. O'Connor Officers of the Trust Trust Secretary Dr C. Davenhall Independent Examiner Mrs J.M.Stevenson, FCA Solicitors Morton-Fraser LLP Email contact You can contact the Trust via roetrust-at-gmail.com. This is monitored by the Trust secretary, Clive Davenhall, and the Trust Chairman, Andy Lawrence. |
Origin of the Trust
The scientific, technological, and teaching activities of the Observatory have been supported for over two hundred years by a mixture of the University of Edinburgh and a sequence of Government bodies - most recently the Science and Technologies Facilities Council. By the early 1980s there was a keenness to undertake public outreach as well, and a growing realisation of the importance of protecting the heritage value of the ROE buildings and archives. The Trust was formed as a method to take forward these ambitions. The Visitor Centre was opened in 198x, and was a great success. After some time it evolved away from permanent exhibitions and a "drop in" style of centre, and towards the current "events" based model, with schools visits, public talks, external events, and so on. Initially the Visitor Centre was run by employees of the Trust, but this ceased when the new UK Astronomy Technology Centre, created in 1999, took operational responsibility. Today the Visitor Centre runs through the efforts of these core ATC staff co-ordinating largely volunteer efforts of both University and ATC staff. The Trust re-focused on a sequence of one-off outreach and heritage related activities. In recent years, this was becoming harder to maintain as Trust funds dwindled. Currently the Trust is entering a phase of becoming more pro-active about seeking to increase the Trust funds, and clarifying the projects that could be helped by potential supporters. Purpose of the Trust The goals of the Trust are
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