A RETIRED bank manager has left the bulk of his £3 million fortune to his former school to help children who have lost a parent.

Raymond Scott, who died last June aged 81, lived in Edinburgh and was a former manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

His former school George Heriot’s in Edinburgh and the city’s Royal Botanic Garden are to receive a windfall from his estate.

Mr Scott had never married or had children, but was an active churchgoer who acted as a steward for many years at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

His recently published will has revealed that he had an estate valued at £3,018,996 at the time of his death. His fortune was made up of property and stocks and shares investments. He left gifts totalling £60,000 to friends and gave £20,000 each to the Portobello Scout Group and the Portobello District Scout Council.

He then instructed that George Heriot’s, on Lauriston Place in the Old Town, should receive two-thirds of the remainder of the money.

He asked that it be used to fund bursaries and the school’s foundation which offers non-fee paying places at the school to children who have lost a parent. The remaining one-third share was left to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

Mr Scott said its bequest should be used “in the area of research into the use of plants for medicinal purposes”.

Mr Scott was a familiar face at the Church of Scotland’s annual gathering on The Mound where he acted as a steward for more than 30 years.

Following his death, Rev Dr Russell Barr, the Moderator of the General Assembly, paid tribute to him at a reception in Edinburgh.

He said: “We remembered Raymond Scott, a much loved assembly stewarding stalwart for 30 years, who died a couple of weeks ago and of how much he looked forward to the post Assembly ‘bun fight’.”

Mr Scott was also formerly a director of the Dog Aid Society of Scotland.

Those to benefit from Mr Scott’s will have told of the delight that he chose to remember them in his will.

Cameron Wyllie, the principal of George Heriot’s school, said: “We are delighted to be in receipt of Raymond Scott’s generosity which will be used to further our charitable purposes and continue George Heriot’s historic legacy.”

A spokeswoman for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, in Inverleith, said: “The organisation is extremely grateful to everyone who takes the time to remember the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in their will. These bequests support the vital scientific research and conservation work we carry out in Scotland.”

Both the school and the Botanic regularly receive bequests. in 2013 Lindsay Stewart OBE left £500,000 to George Heriot’s. The managing director of Scottish firm Ethicon, which makes surgical sutures, was a pupil at the school when a boy.

Anne Sutherland, one of the first female plastic surgeons, left £10,000 to the RBGE when she died in 2011.