A chance conversation with a friend in Vermont offered the solution, sending him straight to his local community foundation – the Scottish Community Foundation. With their support Nick and his wife were able to determine how they wanted to structure their giving:

“We were driven by our passion for Argyll, and then by the wish to help the people living there improve their lives. Then we had to make a decision on where we could have the greatest effect. We decided to focus on young people because we felt that was where we could have most impact and because they are the future. We set out to improve access to learning, education, training and employment.”

He and his wife have become involved with organisations ranging from Home-Start, which provides mentors for young families – to the Argyll Construct Skills Training Centre in Lochgilphead which provides training and apprenticeships in construction to young people in the area, who had previously had to move to Glasgow if they wanted to qualify as builders.

Nick believes that giving locally has two major advantages for philanthropists:

“It is easier to have a major effect, and you can also see that effect for yourself. You know when you’re having an impact.”

The ability to go and see for themselves what their money is doing has not only given Nick and his wife confidence in their giving, but has also given them a sense of community with those in the organisations who share their purpose.

“Part of the reason we are doing our philanthropy very carefully is because it is like any other form of investment: if you do it in a hurry you will get it wrong. We were very honest with ourselves about how little we knew, which is why we worked with the Scottish Community Foundation for a whole year before we even started, just to understand what the landscape was, and why we continue to work with them.”