The St. Andrews Foundation
The St. Andrews Foundation was formed in 2016 by a group of Scots businessmen living in Poland. The Foundation was formed to take run Annual Caledonian Ball that had been held in Warsaw since the 1990’s and had been organised by another long term ‘Scot in Poland’, Martin O’Reilly.
The Founders of the St. Andrews Foundation were Ben Bannatyne, Paul Ramsay Gogolinski, Iain Leyden and Alexander McMillan. The goa of the Foundation were to raise donations for organisations supporting ill and needy Polish children and young people, whilst promoting all things Scottish.
The group set about organising the blue ribband event, The St. Andrews Caledonian Ball which is now held annually on the last Saturday in December to coincide with St. Andrews Day. Up until the Covid Pandemic, the event was held each year and raised hundreds of thousands of zloty’s in donations that have been distributed to our partner organisations.
Sadly, one of our Board Members, Alexander (Sandy) McMillan, passed away in 2021 and we will always be grateful for his part in our success.
A new Board is formed in 2023 and is as follows:
Paul Ramsay Gogolinski – Foundation President
Paul was born in 1960 in Aberdeen Scotland of a Polish father and Scots Mother. With family connections in Poland, Paul travelled to Poland frequently with his family through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. During the early 90,s Paul formed a Scottish Polish Association in Aberdeen before going to South Africa for 4 years. Paul and his Polish wife eventually landed in Poland when he became MD of DaimlerChrysler Fleet Management. During this assignment, they settled in Poland and have lived here since. Paul was a founder member of the St. Andrews Foundation with Iain Leyden, Ben Bannatyne and Sandy McMillan in 2016. Paul is also a GlobalScot and has actively promoted Scotland throughout his time here and has supported the set-up of the now annual Scottish Day in Jadów.
Management
All of the managers of the St Andrews Foundation serve on a voluntary basis and don’t receive any remuneration or benefits in kind from the Foundation.
Management Board
The members of the Management Board are:
- Paul Gogolinski, Prezes
- Iain Leyden Wice-prezes
- David Kennedy
We are currently assisted by fellow Scots:
- Tim Martin
- Ian Wilcock
- Nick Fitzsimmons
who are not currently members of the Management Board.
Honorary Advisers
We are supported by the following honorary advisers:
Legal Adviser
Dentons is a global law firm with 3,000 lawyers and professionals in more than 80 locations spanning 50-plus countries across Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, CIS and the Caucasus, the UK, and the US, all of whom are committed to challenging the status quo to offer creative business and legal solutions.
Accountant
Vistra Poland (previously Trinity Corporate Services) was established in 2004 in Warsaw. The company has grown to become the leading independent provider of trust, corporate, compliance and fund services in the Central and Eastern European region (CEE). Current Clients include multinational corporations, property investment funds, private equity funds and high net worth individuals.