Charities vie for control of Edinburgh trust funds
Charities are running out of time if they want to apply for control of £12m worth of trusts which help vulnerable people in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Council wants to transfer control of 38 trusts to the voluntary sector.
The deadline for applications relating to the ring-fenced funds is 6 August.
The trusts have been established from bequests from individuals to the capital in their wills since 1707.
The council now wants local charities to take over the control of the bequests so the money can be used more efficiently.
The trusts assets range from £192 in the Douglas Brown Bequest for the "deserving poor of Corstorphine" to the £7.5m Trinity College Hospital Fund which provides pensions for older people.
The bequests cover specific instructions such as the donation of coats to residents of Corstorphine to the provision of a "good dinner" every New Year's Day to the poor of the parish of North Leith.
The charities who apply must do work in Edinburgh and the council would prefer they had an annual income of more than £75,000.
Written applications will be considered by the council's Pensions and Trusts Committee.