University staff raise over £7,000 for Highland Hospice

Employees from the University of the Highlands and Islands have handed over more than £7,000 to the Highland Hospice following a major fundraising drive. The Hospice was nominated as the organisation’s charity of the year in 2011 following a staff vote.

Fundraising activities throughout the year included a supermarket bag pack, a sweepstake, a Christmas raffle and coffee mornings.

Individual members of staff undertook personal challenges to add to the cause too. Committee secretary Roger Sendall from Culbokie raised £400 by completing the Loch Ness Marathon, while Julie Cribb from Muir of Ord contributed £290 by undertaking the Fellsman Hike in Yorkshire.

With personal links to the Hospice, the University’s head of lifelong learning and student support, Dr Iain Morrison from Portmahomack, raised the largest individual amount. He completed a sponsored walk with his family, adding £1876 to the pot.

Iain explained: “My family and I had a personal experience with the Hospice when my Mum died there in March last year. It’s an exceptional place with extraordinary staff. The wonderful care provided, not just to Mum, but to the wider family as well, was a massive comfort. We are lucky to have such a high quality facility in our region. I did a sponsored walk with my kids to their granny’s house and I am grateful and proud of my colleagues’ exceptional fundraising efforts for such a worthy cause.”

The University’s £7,000 donation, which is a record-breaking total for staff, will be used to support the work of the Hospice - the only facility of its kind for adults with incurable life-limiting disease in the Highlands.

Welcoming the contribution, Highland Hospice fundraising manager, Linda MacDonald, said: "We were delighted to be selected as the UHI charity of the year and have enjoyed our partnership over the past 12 months. We are extremely grateful to all at UHI for the time, effort and dedication they have put into their fundraising. At the Hospice we rely heavily on the generosity of our local community and businesses such as UHI. All the money we receive from the partnership will go towards providing the highest standard of care for our patients."

University employees now hope to raise even more for their charity of 2012, The ARCHIE Foundation which supports sick children in the North of Scotland.

Media contact

Susan Szymborski
Communications officer
01463 279222
susan.szymborski@uhi.ac.uk