THE head of one of Scotland's biggest charitable foundations has called on other businesses to follow his family's lead and donate more to good causes.

Bruce Mann, Chairman of the W M Mann Foundation, said that even small firms can play their part while bigger businesses should lead the charge by sharing their financial success through public works and charity.

The W M Mann Foundation has handed out around £2.5 million in grants to good causes since it was set up by the current chairman's father Bill Mann in 1988 with a single investment of £25,000, and has now grown to be worth £6.75 million.

All of the money in the not-for-profit foundation has been donated by the Mann family through the years, thanks to the success of their commercial lending firm, with two thirds of the income it generates each year given away while the rest is re-invested to help it grow.

Bruce Mann said: "We want to encourage other successful family businesses to do the same. It has taken us three decades to get to where we are standing, and it did not happen overnight.

"But philanthropy like this is not something which needs to start with a massive amount. If people have a family business and want to start a foundation, then they can do exactly the same thing.

"We started off with small amounts, but now as the years have gone on we are giving awards to hundreds of thousands."

He added: "I am proud of my parents for wanting to give something back and establish The Foundation. There are lots of people who could do such a thing, even in a relatively modest way but very few are actually prepared to sink their own money, and in our case quite a lot of money, into doing good and seeking nothing in return other than very nominal recognition."

Large-scale donations include £110,000 to Scottish Opera for the refurbishment of the Theatre Royal, £200,000 to Glasgow University to assist its campus development, and £50,000 to the Glasgow's Museum of Transport.

But there have also been hundreds of smaller beneficiaries of the family's generosity, ranging from Alzheimer's Scotland top Dundee Women's Aid, the Helensburgh and Lomond Highland Games and the Glasgow Film Festival.

Mr Mann said: "We used to be fairly big supporters of the arts, but about five or six years ago we thought that maybe it was time to do more with other deserving causes which exist. What we did not want to do is be stuck in a rut."

"During the past ten years there has been a substantial and significant in the amount of money that has been given out. We are now at the stage where, not only can we afford to give out £100,000 in grants to around 50 or 60 different charities, but also can afford to give out grants of £50,000, £60,000, £70,000 and more to single organisations if something takes out fancy."

He added that there was still a place in society for individual philanthropy, and urged others to share in the 'feelgood factor' that comes from doing good works.

Mr Mann said: "We feel as though we want to give something back. In 1970 my father started the company and it quickly became successful. By 1988 both he and my mother decided that they wanted to give something back by establishing the charitable foundation.

"I suppose it does look like old-time philanthropy. One of the reasons we do this is because it does feel good to give donations. It is certainly nice to walk into a building and see that part of it has been named after your father."

"And the succeeding generation very much wanted to continue that."

He added: "I suppose we do give the money away for selfish reasons, because it makes us feel good. No-one asked us to do it."