Tag: charity

Fort Kinnaird extends support for local charity

Fort Kinnaird has announced that its popular giant giving box, originally installed for Christmas, will now be a permanent feature at the centre in a bid to help raise funds for its charity partner, Venchie Children & Young People’s Project.

Located outside Tony Macaroni and Boots, visitors can use contactless payment to easily donate £3, £5 and £10 to the charity.

Venchie Children & Young People’s Project is a grass-roots charity located in Niddrie and is committed to improving the lives of children and young people in the local area.

The charity operates within a purpose-built centre and offers local youngsters a range of play, recreation and issue-based youth work, along with an all-weather pitch, a basketball area and swings and a sand play area for them to enjoy.

It is one of the oldest adventure-play charities in Scotland and has been supporting local children for over 60 years.

The giving box at Fort Kinnaird raised over £1,545 for Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign and the centre hopes that it will continue to be as successful for Venchie’s Children and Young People’s Project this year.

Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said: “Our Christmas Giving Box was very popular and we have decided to make the box a permanent feature at the centre to support our newly nominated charity, Venchie Children & Young People’s Project.

“The charity plays an important and much valued role in the local community. Now shoppers can help us to support this wonderful organisation continue to grow their incredible work with the tap of a card or phone.”

Fort Kinnaird is now welcoming visitors back after it reopened its non-essential stores last week. The centre continues to have extra social distancing measures and hand sanitising stations in place to help everyone enjoy a safe shopping experience.

Financial boost for children in the east of Scotland

Disadvantaged young people across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk have received a financial boost with the launch of a new partnership between Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids and Charles River Laboratories.

The pharma company has presented the charity with a donation of £10,000 and pledged to raise more vital funds in the future. The donation will go directly towards the next grant round of funding, supporting community groups and families – many of whom are facing a financial emergency in the pandemic.

As part of the partnership, colleagues at Charles River Laboratories have signed up to take part in the Virtual Kiltwalk as well as Cash for Kids’ own Virtual Tour de Forth event. They’ll also provide a team of volunteers for the next Mission Christmas campaign in December.

Edinburgh-based Director at Charles River Laboratories, Morag Myers, said: “After such a challenging year for fundraising, we are hopeful that this initial donation of £10,000 will go a long way to help families in our local community and have a positive impact on the lives of children and young people.

“At Charles River, our purpose is clear, and our passion is strong: together, we create healthier lives.  One of our key values is Care and one of the ways that we demonstrate this is by supporting  the communities where we work and live.  By Supporting Cash For Kids we are looking forward to doing just that.”

Charity Manager at Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids, Victoria Hendry, added: “2020 was a hugely challenging year for our charity, with events and numerous fundraisers cancelled, but it was thanks to the efforts of our individual and corporate supporters that we were able to re-open grant funding towards the end of the year.

“We’ve already supported more than 7,000 children in 2021, with over £110,000 in financial support so far.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the Scottish team at Charles River Laboratories for their generous donation and commitment to go even further for us in the future. The pandemic has proved to us that every single penny we raise can make a difference. Their donation will change lives for the better and help Cash for Kids reach and help even more young people right across the region.”

Scotmid Community Connect cash for three local projects

Three charities based in the East of Scotland have been awarded £8,500 each, thanks to Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme.

Children with Cancer & Leukaemia Advice and Support for Parents (CCLASP), the Citadel Arts Group and Venture Scotland, secured the funding after being shortlisted by the convenience retailer as one of nine good causes across Scotland to receive financial support from a total pot of £75,000.

Edinburgh-based Venture Scotland, a charity which provides young people aged between 16 and 30, who are struggling with life, the chance to take part in a personal development course based in the outdoors, expressed their gratitude at receiving the lifeline funding.

David Brackenridge, CEO of Venture Scotland, said: “The pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone. However, it has been particularly hard for young people who were already struggling with their mental health before we went into lockdown.

“Scotmid’s generous funding will allow us to continue to support disadvantaged young people through our outdoors based personal development Journey programmes, to enable them to lead happier, healthier and more fulfilled lives.”

Since Scotmid’s Community Connect launched in 2017, more than £450,000 has been awarded to 54 good cause groups enabling key projects to come to life in local areas.

Harry Cairney, Chair of East Regional Committee at Scotmid, said: “The pandemic has created numerous challenges for communities to overcome and adapt to.

“Community Connect was established to enable us to extend the ways in which we can support the communities that we serve, and we are delighted to provide Venture Scotland, CCLASP and the Citadel Arts Centre, with this funding as they continue to provide vital support to their communities.”

CCLASP has provided vital support for families living with a child with cancer for the last 25 years. They offer families respite holidays at their cottage in Muthill. These holidays provide an oasis of peace for families at their darkest of times and any funds will be used to keep this amazing offering open to families needing a break.

Based in Leith for the last 10 years, Citadel Arts Group stimulates and expresses the creativity of older people through stories, memory books and lively dramas helping to celebrate the history of Leith. Funding will be used to create audio plays inspired by the stories to entertain the whole community.

In normal times, Scotmid would typically select a shortlist of community projects which its members then vote on to allocate different amounts of funding.

However, due to the pandemic, the Scotmid Board agreed that all shortlisted charities and community groups would receive equal amounts of funding within each region.

Redundancy fears as cancer charity’s services are suspended

All staff at Breast Cancer Haven are at risk of redundancy after trustees announced its services would be suspended because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

In a statement published on its website on Friday, the charity said it had taken the decision to suspend operations “for the time being”, putting all of its staff – believed to be 26 people – at risk of redundancy.

According to the charity’s latest accounts, for the year to the end of May 2020, it employed 67 staff and reported a total income of £3.8m. Total spending was nearly £4m.

But the charity said it had already made about 40 staff redundant since the pandemic began, and had been forced to close its five centres and other in-hospital face-to-face services. 

The charity’s healthcare professionals will still provide individual support as well as online groups and classes up until the end of June, Breast Cancer Haven said, and it will honour all existing individual therapy appointments, while endeavouring to honour existing visitors’ full treatment plans if possible.

In addition, visitors with first consultations booked before 23 April will still be able to access a maximum of four hours of individual therapy time, the charity said. 

Breast Cancer Haven still has to raise a further £100,000 to deliver these services up until the end of June, and the charity said it welcomed any continued donations its supporters can give.

The statement said: “It is with huge sadness that Breast Cancer Haven’s board of trustees has made the extremely difficult decision to suspend operations for the time being.

“This means we will be pausing the delivery of our live online service and, with great regret, putting all our staff at risk of redundancy.

“Despite a series of cost-cutting measures, including saying goodbye to valued colleagues, we are not able to continue normal operations at this time. 

“This means that we will be pausing the delivery of our live online services that have helped around 1,800 people by providing over 10,000 appointments since lockdown began in March 2020.”

The charity thanked its staff, volunteers and therapists and said it would make further announcements regarding its future as soon as possible.

“And so shines a good deed in a weary world”

Author celebrates ‘Covid hard work and kindness’ in a commemorative charity book


Inspired by Shakespeare’s “and so shines a good deed in a weary world”, an author has donated her time to produce a commemorative book celebrating the hard work and kindness seen across the UK during the Covid pandemic.

Anna James spent more than 6 months interviewing key workers, everyday heroes and familiar faces as well as charities and organisations and collating the stories and photos of their ‘good deeds’.

She has self-published the 350+ page coffee-table style book to celebrate their efforts and to raise money for the NHS and other good causes.

Amongst many others, the book includes contributions from NHS workers, dustbin men, cleaners and farmers; home-schooling families, isolating couples and Covid survivors; Her Majesty the Queen, Captain Tom, Ian Broudie, Banksy and Charlie Mackesy; Fareshare, Samaritans, NSPCC and Age UK; M&S, The Royal Mint, Chester Zoo and even a loo roll manufacturer!

The book also features hundreds of photos of some of the things we’ve all been seeing and experiencing over the past 12 months.

Anna said: “I desperately wanted to do something to help but didn’t know how to be useful – I’m a bit squeamish with anything medical and always get lost, even with satnav, so I’d have been no good at volunteering to help people or deliver things.

“After a few sleepless nights, I decided to stick with what I’m good at and to create a special compilation of this most unusual moment in our history. I would make one of my commemorative books as my small gift to the national effort.

“2020 was an unprecedented year with monumental challenges and heart-breaking sadnesses but amongst that, there was also exceptional hard work, adaptability and kindness. Our humanity and community spirit shone in the darkness and I thought it was important to celebrate that, so we’ve got something to look back on and be proud of.

“I also thought it was important to record some of the things we were all seeing and experiencing – in years to come, when this is hopefully far behind us, will we remember the rainbows? That people joined forces in their thousands to make masks and scrubs for the NHS?

“Will we remember that we clapped outside, every Thursday night? That whole towns and cities were deserted and that shops ran out of toilet roll? I wanted to document some of that to help us remember; as a social history record for us to show our grandchildren, and for them to show theirs.

“I am humbled to have become the caretaker of this most amazing collection of stories from all these everyday heroes who share what they did to help the country and each other, which are heart-warming and heart-wrenching in equal measures.

“It’s probably the book none of us would ever have wanted but perhaps the one we all need, to remind ourselves what a kind and generous bunch we can be.”

As we approach a year since the UK went into its first lockdown, Covid Kindness: UK 2020 is available to order at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Covid-Kindness-UK…/dp/1527275825 to help you remember and reflect on the past 12 months.

All profits go to NHS Charities Together and other good causes.

Health in Mind receives £2000 donation from Amazon Edinburgh

Staff and volunteers at a mental health and wellbeing charity have received a £2,000 donation from Amazon Development Centre Scotland in Edinburgh.

Health in Mind has been promoting mental health and wellbeing in Scotland since 1982. The charity provides a wide range of services such as Peer Connections Edinburgh, which helps adults who want to improve or manage their mental health by spending time with a peer volunteer  that has their own experiences of mental health recovery. 

The charity also runs iThrive Edinburgh, an online resource hub for the people of Edinburgh that provides information on mental health and wellbeing. 

The donation from Amazon will go towards supporting their vital work in Edinburgh, including our Peer Connecting Service and Equal Access, which supports people from ethnic minority communities

Commenting on the donation, Graeme Smith, Managing Director at Amazon Development Centre Scotland, said: “We are pleased to support the great work of Health in Mind with this donation.

“The staff and volunteers go the extra mile to ensure the people of our community struggling with their mental health are supported.”

Lynne Stanford, Fundraising Manager from Health in Mind, said: “We want to say a huge thank you to Graeme and the Amazon team for this donation.

“It means a great deal to us to have this support at this time – COVID-19 has had a huge impact on people’s mental health.  This donation helps raise awareness and importance for the support we provide and ensures we are here for people when they need us the most.”

Amazon Development Centre Scotland has been based in Edinburgh since 2004 and is responsible for devising and growing innovations that bring new levels of choice and convenience to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. 

It houses teams of leading engineers, scientists, designers and product managers who work on everything from interactive user interface design to large-scale distributed systems and machine learning. The team is currently recruiting for a number of positions including software developers, engineers and applied scientists.

The donation was made as part of the ‘Amazon in the Community’ programme, whereby the company supports the communities around its operating locations across the UK.

Community donations are one of a number of ways in which Amazon is supporting communities across the UK during COVID-19. 

Throughout the pandemic Amazon has provided students with free online STEM resources and supported virtual classrooms with no-cost resources from AWS. The company has also teamed up with charity partner Magic Breakfast to deliver over 3 million healthy breakfasts to disadvantaged children around the UK.

For more information on how Amazon is supporting the UK during COVID-19, click here.

Letters: Support Mary’s Meals this Mother’s Day

Dear Editor,

This Mother’s Day, school feeding charity Mary’s Meals would like to pay tribute to incredible women around the world.

From the mums in the UK whose food has nourished us throughout our childhoods, including those who volunteer and fundraise for Mary’s Meals, to the women who cook and serve our daily meals for children in some of the world’s poorest countries, we celebrate them all.

Mary’s Meals feeds more than 1.6 million hungry children in 19 countries every school day.

That’s why I am asking your readers to send a Mary’s Meals gift card to the special women in their lives this Mother’s Day. For just £15.90, it will feed a hungry child every day for an entire school year.

And because the childhood meals our mothers made often stay with us, reminding us of being nurtured and loved, we have included a favourite childhood recipe from TV presenter Lorraine Kelly with each gift card.  

Please visit marysmeals.org.uk/mothersday to purchase your gift card or digital gift.

I know I’d love it if my three lovely children gave me this special present for Mother’s Day.

Gillian McMahon

Director of Supporter Engagement and Income, Mary’s Meals

Picture Copyright Chris Watt Tel – 07887 554 193 info@chriswatt.com www.chriswatt.com

Walk For Autism 2021 reaches £100,000 in sponsorship pledges

RECORD BREAKER: AUTISM INITIATIVES’ BIGGEST FUNDRAISER TO DATE

With more than 1,400 people pledging to ‘Walk for Autism’ in 2021, Autism Initiatives’ annual fundraising campaign has hit its biggest milestone in its four-year history.

Walkers across the UK and Ireland have raised a monumental £100,000 in the past five weeks, with hopes to double that amount before the challenge takes place next month.

Officially starting on March 26, walkers will undertake 10,000 steps a day for eight days, ending on World Autism Awareness Day.

Walkers can fundraise from the moment they sign up, with famous faces such as Bridgerton actor Simon Lennon and strongman competitor Tom Stoltman supporting the campaign.

Head of Enterprise at Autism Initiatives Jon Gordon said: “We were delighted to reach over 1,000 signups for our fourth annual Walk for Autism campaign but it’s the money raised that really does make a difference to the lives of so many people across the UK and Ireland.

To have exceeded our target with over £100,000 raised so far is just brilliant and we can’t thank our walkers enough for their dedication this year. It is so inspiring to see people rising to the challenge and doing something so positive in the midst of the pandemic.

“We’ve seen evidence of comradery and friendship from walkers across the UK and Ireland each with a different story to tell, and all joined by something personal that has inspired them to participate. Although we’re overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for contributions this year, we just know that there is more to be done to make the biggest impact possible when it comes to supporting autistic people.”

The campaign will officially end on World Autism Awareness Day (April 2), an internationally recognised day that occurs every year encouraging individuals and organisations to take measures to raise awareness about autism throughout the world.

Jon said: “World Autism Awareness Day is an incredibly important day to us, and to our walkers, but we aim to help raise awareness of autism and provide support where it’s needed around the clock, every day of the year.

“Money raised from the campaign will support a range of projects by Autism Initiatives which improve the quality of life of both autistic adults and children.”

Walk for Autism is a fundraising campaign led by charity Autism Initiatives Group (registered charity number 1170634) who have been working to improve the lives of autistic people and their families across the UK and Ireland for almost 50 years.

For more information, or to sign up visit www.walkforautism.co.uk

Doddie digs deep for families living with MND

The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, founded by rugby legend Doddie Weir, has donated an additional £100,000 to MND Scotland and £200,000 to the MND Association of England Wales and Northern Ireland, to support people living with motor neurone disease (MND). 

Doddie, who first shared his MND diagnosis in June 2017, has pledged to help others living with the rapidly progressing terminal illness, as well as funding for vital research into finding a cure. 

To support families currently affected, the Foundation has committed annnual funding to MND Scotland and the MND Association, since 2018.

The Foundation also made one-off donations to the charities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, taking its total contributions to MND Scotland and the MND Association to £380,000 and £670,000, respectively.  

The new funds will be used by both charities to help families across the UK cover some of the financial burden that comes with a diagnosis of MND, through their grant programmes. 

These programmes aim to help reduce some of the extra costs that come with living with MND. The grants can be used in various ways, for instance; to help with costs towards home adaptations, such as ramps and stairlifts, for specialist equipment to live life more independently, and for respite activities for carers and families. 

Jill Douglas, CEO of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, said: “We are delighted to continue and further strengthen our relationships with MND Scotland and MND Association by working with both these charities to support people living with motor neuron disease. 

“This commitment, by Doddie and the Foundation, to help patients and their families, is one of our main strategic goals and we look forward to sharing our plans for the future in the coming months. 

“Our ability to offer grants to families, through the existing frontline care charities, is only possible through the amazing contribution of our fundraisers and supporters and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us, you inspire us every day!” 

Adrian Murphy, MND Scotland’s Chair, said: “I’d like to thank the Foundation for its ongoing support of our grants programme which allows us to provide essential support to the families affected by this devastating disease.  

“Since his own diagnosis, Doddie has raised an incredible amount of awareness by sharing his personal journey with MND, and through his Foundation has raised vital funds to support the cause. By continuing to work together we can help make life a little easier for people living with MND right now.”  

Sally Light, Chief Executive of the MND Association for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: “We are really pleased and grateful that Doddie is channelling money raised by his Foundation in the last year into our care grants programme once again, ensuring it goes directly to people affected by MND who desperately need it.

“We have a long-standing and comprehensive programme which we know makes such a difference and support like Doddie’s and that of his Foundation’s supporters is vital to us continuing with that.” 

For more information visit: 

www.mndscotland.org.uk, www.mndassociation.org and www.myname5doddie.co.uk.  

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service nominated for prestiious national charity award

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS)is set to be honoured by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, at a digital awards celebration next month.

SFRShas been shortlisted for the Recruiter of the Year at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2020. 

The prestigious Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards are back for their eighth year and will recognise the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers, clinical supporters and donors who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives. 

The awards ceremony is usually held at the Tower of London, but with mass gatherings of this nature currently unable to take place there will be a digital celebration instead, where celebrities and other specially invited supporters will announce the winners of each category in specially pre-recorded films. 

The SFRS formed the groundbreaking partnership with the blood cancer charity 12 years ago.

Since then, volunteers have worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the desperate need for more stem cell donors.

As a result, over 18000 new potential stem cell donors have been recruited on the Anthony Nolan register.

The partnership has seen 76 people recruited by the scheme donate stem cells and give seriously ill patients a second chance at life.

Now mainly focusing on Secondary School recruitment, volunteers from the service have educated over 38,500 school children aged between 16 and 18. 

Andy Watt, Chair of the SFRS Partnership said: “We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted as a finalist at this year’s Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards. Even during lockdown, people recruited by the partnership have donated their stem cells and given desperately ill patients a second chance.

“This only happens because of the contribution of our incredible volunteers and this nomination is entirely about them. They give so freely of their time and I hope they reflect with great pride on the contribution that they make to saving and improving lives” 

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, said: “It is remarkable to see how many people support our work to find a match for those in need of a stem cell transplant. Without them, none of our life-saving work would be possible. 

“It’s impossible to overstate the significance of the work done by our partners in SFRS. The passion and determination of the volunteers to educate Scottish schoolchild on the lifesaving subject of stem cell donation, is nothing short of inspirational. The fact that 76 lives have potentially been saved, is a result that speaks for itself.”

All winners will be revealed at 7pm on Thursday 11th February at www.anthonynolan.org/awards 

Anthony Nolan is the charity that finds matching stem cell donors for people with blood cancer and blood disorders and gives them a second chance at life. It also carries out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.  

To see the full shortlist, and find out more about the charity visit www.anthonynolan.org/awards