University staff raise over £6000 for Highland Hospice

Staff from the University of the Highlands and Islands have handed over a cheque for £6494.41 to the Highland Hospice following a year-long fundraising drive. Colleagues organised a raffle, coffee mornings and a mince pie and Christmas jumper day after the Hospice was selected as their 2017 charity of the year.
 
Individual members of staff also undertook personal challenges to contribute to the total. Jeanne Boyd, a finance manager from Cradlehall, marked a milestone birthday by signing up to the Fort William marathon, Loch Ness marathon, Stirling marathon, Inverness half marathon, Brodie Castle 10k and the Castle of Mey 10k. Jeanne completed each challenge, raising £478.75 for the charity.
 
Helen Anton from Inverness and Heather Fotheringham from Ardersier collected £675 by running the Inverness half marathon and groups of colleagues joined together for the 5x50 challenge, the Etape Loch Ness and the Highland Hospice ice and fire walk.
 
Dean of students, Dr Iain Morrison, also got in on the action, by volunteering to be covered in custard by members of the Highlands and Islands Students’ Association. Iain, who lives in Portmahomack, took the ‘custarding’ in good spirits, helping to contribute £500 to the total.
 
Highland Hospice will use the donation to support its work in improving the quality of life of people with life limiting illnesses in the Highland area.
 
Welcoming the donation, Highland Hospice’s corporate fundraiser Lisa Long, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this wonderful donation from the University of the Highlands and Islands whose staff have really excelled in their fundraising efforts over the past year. Not only did they embrace several of our own events, they also came up with their own innovative ideas to raise funds. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this total and to academic partnerships manager Lindsey Moodie who donated £1804 by completing the Great Wall of China trek.”
 
Dr Iain Morrison said: “Once again the university has shown its commitment to our community by raising a magnificent £6494 for an organisation which means a great deal to all of us. The Highland Hospice provides exemplary palliative care for people across our region and my colleagues spent a year doing a series of strenuous, creative and sometimes downright silly activities to show our support. Being covered in custard by gleeful students and then chased through Bught Park by wasps the size of bulldogs was the least I could do.”
 
Jeanne Boyd added: “The 6am Sunday starts for my training runs were probably more of a challenge than the marathons themselves - I’m not usually a morning person - but Inverness is a beautiful place when the sun is rising and the birds are singing. It has been tough but very satisfying completing all my challenges and contributing to such a fantastic total for the Hospice who do such an amazing job.”
 
University staff have selected Befrienders Highland as their charity for 2018. The organisation works to improve the lives of people who are lonely, isolated and who have experience of mental ill health, memory difficulties or dementia as well as carers of people with dementia.