The Royal Caledonian Ball & Charities Trust

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The Royal Caledonian Ball & Charities Trust

The Royal Caledonian Charities Trust prides itself on a history of charitable giving dating back to 1

The Royal Caledonian Charities Trust prides itself on a history of charitable giving dating back to 1822. First founded as a society ball benefiting Scottish causes, it was formally registered as a charity in 1962 and has raised over £730,000 in the last twenty years alone. The majority of funds come from personal donations, sponsorship and advertising. Grants are made to a range of small Scottish

charities on an annual basis, with an emphasis on those working with the elderly, children, those with disabilities, the military, the injured and the homeless.

01/05/2026

A wee glimpse of preparations taking place at - our home for nearly a hundred years, and rich in history in its own right.

30/04/2026

Dance cards at the ready - the countdown to the Cally is on! Tune in tomorrow to get a behind the scenes look as we get set for the 190th Royal Caledonian Ball 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

07/04/2026

Shall you go to the Ball?

Due to some last minute dropouts, we now have 20 tickets available for this year’s Royal Caledonian Ball. Please do email [email protected] should you wish to bring a party (NB: can be anywhere between 8-20).

06/02/2026

Applications for the 2026 Royal Caledonian Ball are now OPEN! 🥳🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Should you wish to bring a party, please email our Secretary ([email protected]) to apply for tickets — stating the desired size of your party, whether you have attended the Ball before, and/or have hosted a reeling party elsewhere. Please note all applications are subject to Committee review and tickets cannot be reserved.

25/01/2026

Happy Burns Night! 🥃

Did you know that one of Robert Burns’ most prominent patrons was the Duchess of Gordon? Known as the “Empress of Fashion”, it was in her home that Burns first read his poetry to the great and good of Edinburgh — and she became his chief sponsor, purchasing all his early works.

The Duchess is also remembered for founding the Gordon Highlanders, whose regimental association the Royal Caledonian Charities Trust last supported in 2023. Her Grace bet the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) that she could raise more soldiers than the Government. Although 45 by then, she was still extremely attractive and used this to her advantage: as shown here, she wore a military uniform and a large black bonnet, touring Scotland to organise reels. Anyone who joined the reel joined the army and received the King’s shilling, the recruiting payment, from between the Duchess’ lips by kissing her.

Burns immortalised the Duchess dancing in one of his poems:

“She kiltit up her kirtle weel To show her bonie cutes sae sma’, And walloped about the reel, The lightest louper o’ them a’!”

31/12/2025

We’ll tak’ a cup o’kindness yet, for auld lang syne 🥃 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

We are delighted to have made grants to the following charities this year:

St Catharine’s Sisters of Mercy Homeless Project
The Skye & Lochalsh Young Carers

Thank you for all your support this year — and happy Hogmanay!

hogmanay

24/12/2025

May your days be merry and bright! Wishing you all the happiest of Christmases ✨

07/11/2025

👋 Fàilte to all our new followers! We thought we’d (re)introduce ourselves…

You can find out more about us, including how to donate to our work supporting Scots in need, on our website 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

24/09/2025

May we have this dance?

We are delighted to announce the Royal Caledonian Ball will return to on Friday May 1st, 2026. Applications for tickets will formally open in the new year.

Shown here: the Earl and Countess of Belfast at this year’s Ball.

06/09/2025

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our former Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent. The Duchess was a steadfast and valued supporter of our work whose kindness and compassion - not just to us, but to people the country over - will not soon be forgotten.

Our thoughts are with Her Royal Highness’s husband, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, and all their family.

Address

London

Telephone

+447774627257

Website

http://www.royalcaledonianball.com/, https://linktr.ee/RoyalCaledonianBall

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