Military tattoo donates £1m to charitable causes

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is to donate £1 million to charitable causes in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The donations will assist veterans, armed forces personnel and a number of arts organisations such as the Edinburgh International Festival.

Eleven UK-based services and arts beneficiaries including ABF the Soldiers’ Charity, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, and the RAF Benevolent Fund will share a £500,000 contribution, while seven charitable causes will benefit from the same amount across Australia and New Zealand.

This year’s grants represent the largest sum ever donated in the Tattoo’s 66-year history and come after the 18th consecutive annual sell-out run of the show on Edinburgh Castle’s esplanade and two tours in Wellington, New Zealand, and Melbourne, Australia.

The Tattoo is this year estimated to have generated £77 million to the UK economy.

Millions of people visited Edinburgh in August for the festival season, which the Tattoo is part of.

Almost 2.5 million tickets were issued for 50,266 Fringe events, and the Edinburgh International Festival generated £4 million in ticket sales.