Tot inspires NHS Highland staff in Inverness to do fundraising
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A GROUP of staff from the emergency department at Raigmore Hospital have stepped up to raise funds for two charities in memory of the daughter of a former colleague.
They took part in a virtual walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats in their spare time at work and have raised £1000 for the Friends of the Birnie, which is a support group based at the hospital.
The group took on the challenge in memory of three-year-old Catrina Greig, the daughter of their former colleague Clare. Catrina, who was born with Down’s syndrome, contracted leukaemia last year and died due to sepsis during treatment.
The unit wanted to do something to support the family after Catrina’s death and each day staff on duty took time from their breaks to walk up seven flights of stairs on the hospital tower block and back to the department. The distance was then added to their total until they clocked up the 847-mile equivalent of walking between the two UK landmarks.
Their target was initially £500 but £1725 has been pledged. With donations from colleagues, friends and family still coming in they were delighted to hand over the first part of the donation to the Friends of the Birnie, which provided regular support to Catrina and her family.
The rest of the funds raised will go to Riding for the Disabled which Catrina regularly enjoyed.
Senior charge nurse Heather Johnstone and clinical educator Bev Maclennan visited the Birnie Centre to hand over the donation.
Ms Johnstone said: “Each day staff on duty took time from their breaks to walk up seven flights of stairs and back to the department. The distance was then added to our total. We started this challenge on January 1, but as you can imagine it was quite challenging given the busy nature of the department.”
Mrs Greig, of Dunvegan Place, said: “It is really lovely that they are supporting these charities that gave us so much help.
“The Birnie Centre for children with additional support needs is a tremendous facility. Catrina’s balance was not good but they focused on getting her strong and she made great progress. A lot of people don’t know about the centre, who also do a lot of speech work with children.
“The horse riding also helped with Catrina’s core strength and she loved going there.”
