The Trust was formally constituted in 2010 to raise funds and awareness for good causes (both military and civilian) whilst providing through the annual ball an evening of good food, great company, and Scottish reeling.
The inaugural Tri-Service Volunteer Officers’ Ball was held in the Roxburghe Hotel, Edinburgh in the spring of 1956. It was created by Capt Douglas Lister, then Battery Captain ‘S’ Battery 519 Regt RA. The late Col Douglas Spratt chaired the organising committee for over 20 years.
After a brief appearance at The George Hotel and then the Balmoral on Princes Street, for around fifty years since then it was held in the Assembly Rooms on George Street. With the closure for refurbishment of the Assembly Rooms in 2010, aligned with the gradual decline in serving Reserve Officers in Scotland, it was appropriate to reconvene at other venues across the capital and widen the appeal of the event to serving and former regular officers in Scotland.
During these years the Ball has been held in the Sheraton Grande and latterly at The Royal Scots Club (in The Princess Royal Suite) where venue capacity has served well up to now.
For the 60th anniversary event the Ball returned to the Assembly Rooms and was attended by serving and former Officers of the Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve), and by their family and friends. It is the only annual social gathering in the combined Scottish Officers’ Mess diary.
