Dream boost for Inverness children’s charity
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A FLEDGLING charity formed to help Highland children with additional support needs access specialist therapies, has been given a flying start.
Only weeks after Dream, Believe, Achieve Highland (DBAH) was granted charitable status, it has been gifted £12,500 by kind-hearted hoteliers.
DBAH was set up by Inverness parents Steph and Kris Douglas after seeing the progress made by their son Sam, who has cerebral palsy, through therapies such as intense physio and hippotherapy. He now has his own fundraiser, Step Up For Sam.
The couple were over-the-moon when a grand ball recently made more than £10,000 for DBAH, but now the charity has received another huge funding boost from Singapore couple Kishore and Pia Buxani who bought the city’s Craigmonie Hotel last December.
Mrs Douglas, a nurse at Raigmore Hospital, said: “This is an astronomical amount for us and will really benefit a large amount of families. Therapy can cost up to £90 per hour which is not affordable for most families.
“The Craigmonie Hotel allowed us to use their facilities when we bring up therapists from England, and the staff there have always been very welcoming and interested in how the children are progressing.
“The owners asked hotel manager Niall Maclennan about a charity to support, and he contacted me to say that they are inspired by our work and would like to make a donation to support the children that are seeing these therapists.”
Mr Maclennan said: “We like to do what we can to help local groups. The Buxanis asked me to find a charity which would make a difference locally and I thought the new charity that already uses our facilities would be ideal, having seen how the therapy helps the children.”
Mrs Douglas added: “When Sam was born we felt like we were living on the moon in terms of accessibility to specialist therapies as most experts live in the south of England. Thanks to Sam’s own campaign we were able to bring therapists up to the Highlands and DBAH will help fund therapy for other children.”
Mr Buxani said: “We are happy to help such a good cause.”
