Memorial fund gives boost to Merkinch's SuperHeroes Brunch Club
Inverness-based family firm Cairngorm Group is marking the second anniversary of the untimely death of the co-directors’ sister to cancer, by awarding another round of grants to community groups across the north.
The most recent beneficiary is SuperHeroes Brunch Club for the youngsters of Merkinch.
Chris and Scott Dowling lost their sister Jennifer McBurnie at the age of 42 on July 8, 2021.
Along with their father David, the brothers established Jennifer’s Fund in her memory, vowing to donate a minimum of £10,000 every year to local community groups and individuals in need.
Although Jennifer had worked in the family business as a teenager, she chose a different career path for herself, training and working as an NHS physiotherapist. Jennifer lived latterly in Aberdeen with her husband Aiden and the couple’s three children.
“Jennifer’s main priority was her family and she preferred to concentrate on creating memorable experiences for her children, rather than buying them material goods,” Chris said.
“With Jennifer’s Fund we are carrying on in her same spirit, making grants of up to £1000 each to volunteer-led community groups and to individuals and families in need, to pay for the sort of experiences that Jennifer would have enjoyed and approved of.”
This summer’s SuperHeroes Brunch Club, run by volunteer members of Inverness Christian Fellowship (ICF) in Trinity Church, for the benefit of primary-aged children in Merkinch started on Tuesday.
“This is exactly what Jennifer’s Fund is all about,” Chris said during a visit, a grin breaking across his face as a hall full of children were busy either colouring in, creating art works, playing rough-and-tumble games, or listening to Bible stories, supported by willing and enthusiastic volunteers.
“Jennifer would have loved this. She was a member of Inverness Christian Fellowship in her late teens, so being able to support the children here in some ways brings a bit of her back to us.”
Karen Halkett, a member of ICF and main organiser of the SuperHeroes Brunch Club, said: “We have run this club in Merkinch during summer, October, and Easter school holidays for the past few years, and we have seen first-hand the positive impact it has on the children who come. Every week we get more children turning up as word spreads. Last summer we supported 87 different children during our sessions.
“Each child enjoys a good healthy brunch while they are here, and gets a substantial packed lunch to take home, either to eat themselves or to share with those at home.
“The funding from Jennifer’s Fund has helped us to pay for all the food and drink, and to invest in really high-quality craft materials that the children can use while they are here. They all enjoy making things to take home.
“The grant helps us make this really special for the children who come, and it means a lot to me personally. I was a friend of Jennifer’s. It’s great to be able to remember her by doing something she would have approved of.”
Other beneficiaries of the most recent grants announced by Cairngorm Group, include Tykes Young Carers in Golspie, to help fund an October respite break for carers aged between seven and 12.
Previous grants have been made to Fox’s Tales Family Sessions in Evanton, to help babies and toddlers who were born during the pandemic, Caithness FM Christmas Toy Appeal, and Roots and Shoots Outdoor Play Scheme in Badenoch and Strathspey.
The fund has also supported Blooming Gardeners Group in Ross-shire, a therapeutic horticultural project for adults with learning disabilities, and No Limits Caithness which supports vulnerable and less fortunate children across the county.
“This is something that will continue for as long as the business is still going,” Chris said. “We plan to consider applications every quarter throughout the financial year.”
Chris described how community groups and individuals can apply to Jennifer’s Fund: “Grant applications open in during the first two months of every quarter. We’re accepting them now until the end of August, and we’ll look at them all and make our decision in September. We’ll then reopen the application process in October and November, decide on those ones in December, and so on throughout the year.”
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“Having set up Jennifer’s Fund just over a year ago, the impact of the awards made so far is just beginning to feed back to the company,” Chris said. “But seeing these happy faces here today and knowing every one of the children here will be fed, go home with more food for later, and will have had a good fun couple of hours while they are here, is what Jennifer’s Fund is all about.”
The Cairngorm Group – which manufactures doors, windows, conservatories, solar panel systems and more from its factory in Inverness – celebrated its 70th anniversary earlier this summer.
