Craighalbert winter newsletter 2006

Gillian Hooman
On 23 December little Gillian Hooman who was just five, from the Nursery Group died very suddenly at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.  Everyone at Craighalbert sends their sympathy to Gillian’s Mum, Karen, Dad, David, her twin sister Gemma and older sister Laura.  Gillian is sadly missed in the Nursery.  My lasting memory of Gillian is sitting in the classroom on her box, holding onto a little ladderback, shouting at me because I had come into the classroom and not spoken to her.  In 2004 Radio Clyde and Clyde Action asked if some of the children from the Centre could help switch on the Christmas lights in Buchanan Galleries.  Three children from the Centre went along — Gillian, who at that time was in the Parent and Child Group, Ewan from the Nursery and Ryan from the School Group.  However, it was Gillian’s job to actually switch on the lights.  She really enjoyed this job and all children were given some lovely gifts after the switching on ceremony.

Donations and Fundraising
Thanks to Sandy Henderson of Thurso, Caithness for the generous donation of a gallon bottle of whisky.  Sandy’s grandson attends the Parent and Baby Group.

Thanks to the members of BNI (Business Network International) Cumbernauld Chapter for their generous donation of £400 to the Centre.  BNI have supported the Centre for a few years now and we are grateful for this support.

John Horn, who’s daughter Ava attends the Nursery Group, fundraised for the Centre at work, Star Refrigeration in the south side of Glasgow.  A variety of events were held including a marathon run by Steve Milligan.  John and Steve visited the Centre to present a cheque for £3324.50 to Ava and her classmates.  Thanks go to John, Steve and all at Star Refrigeration for this very generous donation.

On October I visited National Australia Group’s offices in Clydebank to receive a cheque from Karen Hooman and her colleagues who ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of the Centre raising £959.50, which was matched by £500 by NAG.  On Monday 23 October I met up with Karen and her colleagues for the cheque presentation.  Thanks go to Karen and all at NAG in Clydebank for their support and for the great donation.

The Centre’s collecting cans have brought in quite a bit of money over the last few months.  In September the cans in Bill Bhogal’s Spar Shop in the Village contained £55.57, in November a further £75 was donated from the cans and after Christmas there was £73.10 in the cans.  Thanks go to Bill and his customers for their generous donations.  Thanks also go to the customers and staff of the Dovecote Beefeater in the Town Centre for donations totalling £122.50 from their collecting cans.  Donald McAinsh and his customers donated £79.20 from their collecting can at Airdrie Grains and Health Foods in November and the staff and customers of Caber Installations in Wardpark donated £35.28 from their collecting can.  Thanks to everyone for their support.

Thanks to Patricia Kennie for her generous donation.

Thanks to Derek Sands of Condorrat for raising £300 for the Centre by running the Glasgow Half Marathon.  Derek visited the Centre for the cheque presentation.

Solicitor Manus Quigg ran the half marathon in aid of the Centre and raised £280, which was matched by his company Brodies.  Thanks to Manus and Brodies for this very generous donation.

The ladies of the Auchengeich Line Dancing Class made a £200 donation to the Centre and I am very grateful to Mrs Sludden and the members of the line dancing class for this generous donation.

Thanks to the staff at Oki (UK) Ltd in Cumbernauld for their continued support of the Centre.  Donations totalling £382.40 have been received over the last few months and will go towards the running of the hydrotherapy pool.

Regular supporter Alex Beattie from Basingstoke sent us a donation for which we are very grateful.  Alex is currently in North Hants Hospital and has been since June.  We wish Alex a very speedy recovery and hope he will be home very soon.

Isabel Brady from Condorrat sent us a very generous donation after seeing the Centre DVD and we are very grateful to Isabel for her donation.

Thanks to Kathryn Wright of Westerwood, who ran the Great Scottish Junior Run and the Stirling 3k Fun Run in aid of the Centre, raising £100, thanks Kathryn.

The Ladies Section of Cardonald Bowling Club support the Centre each year and this year was no different.  Thanks go to Honorary Treasurer Mae McLean and the member who made a donation of £70 to the Centre.

Marion Young of Craigmarloch took part in a sponsored parachute jump in aid of a few charities and split the sponsorship money, the Centre was given £50.  Thanks Marion.

The Chair of the Trustees of the Friends of Craighalbert, David Frame and his wife, Janice, ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of Craighalbert and we thank them for their donation of £300.

Michael Back is the uncle of Cieran who attends the Nursery Group.  Michael ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of Craighalbert and visited on 08 November to present Cieran and his classmates with the cheque.  Thanks go to Michael for his generous donation of £500.

Thanks to Frances McKean of Milngavie for her donation of £15.00, which was some of her birthday money.

Eddie Oakes and his colleagues Willie Lavery, Mick Deary, Fiona Clark and John Graham, who all work within the Ministry of Defence Police in Coulport for their generous donation of 327.40, raised through sponsorship to run the Glasgow Half Marathon.

Thanks to Peter Hutchinson Isabel Brady from Condorrat sent us a very generous donation after seeing the Centre DVD and we are very grateful to Isabel for this generous donation.

Thanks to Kathryn Wright of Westerwood, who ran the Great Scottish Junior Run and the Stirling 3km Fun Run in aid of the Centre, raising £100, thanks Kathryn.

The Ladies Section of Cardonald Bowling Club support the Centre each year and this year was no different.  Thanks go to Honorary Treasurer Mae McLean and the member who made a donation of £70 to the Centre.

Marion Young of Craigmarloch took part in a sponsored parachute jump in aid of a few charities and split the sponsorship money, the Centre was given £50.  Thanks Marion.

The Chairman and the Trustees of the Friends of Craighalbert, David Frame and his wife, Janice ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of Craighalbert and we thank them for their donation of £300.

Michael Back is the uncle of Cieran who attends the Nursery Group.  Michael ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of Craighalbert and visited on 08 November to present Cieran and his classmates with the cheque.  Thanks go to Michael for his generous donation of £500.

Thanks to Frances McKean of Milngavie for her donation of £15.00, which was some of her birthday money.

Eddie Oakes and his colleagues Willie Lavery, Mick Deary, Fiona Clark and John Graham, who are all members of the Ministry of Defence Police in Coulport for their generous donation of £327.40, raised through sponsorship to run the Glasgow Half Marathon.

Greg attended the Centre for two years before going back home to Invergordon to attend his local primary school.  He now attends secondary school and comes back to the Centre on periodic placement.  Greg’s grandmother died in October and the family asked for donations to be made to the Centre.  I received a cheque for £101.80.  Thanks go to the family for this generous donation.

Margaret Brown and the Ladies of Balloch Eastfield Ladies Circle made a donation of £47 to the Centre and I am grateful to the ladies for this donation and continued support.

Friends of Zara’s, in the Nursery Group, parents, Elaine and Thomas, ran the Great Scottish Run in aid of Craighalbert and donated an amazing £765 to the Centre.  Thanks go to John Davies, John Rice and Alan Paisley for this generous donation.  John’s company matched his donation of £480 with a further £400.  John Davies played in the Craighalbert Golf Classic with Thomas in September.  The photo shows Zara with classmate Sean, who was very keen on the donation, in fact we had a bit of trouble getting the bag of money back from him!

Ellen Brown from Scotstoun was a great supporter of the Centre.  She sang with Jenny Wood and the Trinity Belles raising money for the Hydrotherapy Pool Fund.  The Belles disbanded when Jenny died six years ago, but Ellen kept in touch with the Centre.  Ellen died very suddenly in June this year and in November I received a letter from Ellen’s solicitor with a cheque for £2000, a legacy Ellen had left the Centre.  Unfortunately Ellen is not around to thank and I do not know her family, but we are very grateful for this donation.

A gentleman who lives in Cumbernauld visited the Centre on 15 November and gave me a cheque for £500.  He wished to remain anonymous and did not want thanked as this costs money, but we are very grateful to him for his generous donation.

I had a letter from Alan Nairn with a cheque for £250 from the Inland Revenue Charities Committee.  Alan and the Committee make regular donations to the Centre and I am very grateful to Alan, the Committee and the staff at the Inland Revenue Accounts Office in Cumbernauld for their continued support.

Josh attends the Parent and Baby Group on a Monday afternoon and his Mum and Dad, Karen and Simon, organised a fundraising evening in Kilsyth in November, with the proceeds being split between the Centre and the Sick Children’s Hospital in Edinburgh.  Simon, Karen and Josh presented me with a cheque for £4500 on Monday 20 November.  A big thank you to Karen, Simon, Josh and all their family and friends who attended the fundraising evening and raised such a terrific sum for both charities.

Thanks to supporters Emily and John Watt in Sorn, Ayrshire for their generous donation which accompanied their Christmas card order.

Alan and Leanne Grant’s son, Kyle, attends the Nursery Group at the Centre.  The members of the 32 Club now donate to the Centre and over the last few months have donated £160, so thanks go to the members for this generous donation.

Alan works at RAF Leuchars and on Tuesday 16 January, Lillemor’s PA, Lynne and I went up to Leuchars to receive a cheque for £579, collected from staff and their families over Christmas.  Thanks go to Flt Lt Marc Preece, Ft Sgt Brandie and everyone who made us so welcome and for the great donation.

Thanks to the Trustees of the Cruden Foundation for their generous donation of £500 and continued support.

Thanks to Mr Milne of Old Kilpatrick, who is the great, great grandfather of one of the children who attends on periodic placement, for his generous donation of £100 to the Centre.

generous donation of £100 to the Centre.

Marion Elliott is the aunt of one of our members of staff.  She works at DirectLine Insurance and she and her colleagues at DirectLine donated £287 to the Centre in November.  This donation was matched by £250, by the RBS Community Cashback Awards Scheme.  Thanks go to Marion and her colleagues and the RBS for this donation.

Graham and Angela Adams, who’s son Luke attends on Periodic Placement, made a £100 donation to the Centre in lieu of a wedding gift for friends in Colchester.  Thanks to them for this generous donation.

Thanks to Nicola McCartney and her colleagues at RBS in Cumbernauld for their generous donation of £280.05.

The Robertson Trust made a £24,000 donation to the Centre over three years to help fund the Parent and Baby Group.  The final award of £6000 from this grant was received in November and we are very grateful to the Trustees for their support.

Nancy Anderson from Bridge of Allan visited in November and made a very generous donation to the Centre, for which we are very grateful.  Thanks Nancy.

To the members of Bannockburn and Ladywell Parish Church Guild, we say thank you for their donation of £40.

Donations were received from Ken and Betty Davie for £50 and Cumbernauld Housing Partnership for £400 towards the children’s Christmas.  Thanks go to them for these donations.

I went along to the Cumbernauld Male Voice Choir concert in November and in December Lillemor went back to visit the choir to receive a cheque for £400.  The money raised at the concert was split amongst the Centre, Strathcarron Hospice and Cumbernauld Talking Newspaper.  Thanks go to everyone involved with the choir of this generous donation.

Thanks to Superintendent Derek Dillon, Strathclyde Police, Bellshill Office for his generous donation to the Centre.

Azrah Ashfaq’s son attends the School Group and she and her colleagues in the Procurator Fiscal’s Office in Dunfermline raised £188 for the Centre.  Thanks go to Azrah and her colleagues for this donation and continued support.

Tom Cromer is a Trustee of Children’s Aid (Scotland) Ltd and visited the Centre on 21 December with his daughter Rachel to see the Christmas Nativity.  While here he presented the Centre with a cheque for £750 from the staff at Cooper Cromer and thanks go to all at Cooper Cromer for this very generous donation.

Thanks to the staff at the Scottish Ambulance Service for their donation of £45.

Sematek in Cumbernauld made a donation of £1000 to the Centre in December.  We were pleased to welcome CEO John Roseman’s daughter and her colleague to the Centre for the presentation to the Nursery Group.  Thanks to Sematek for their continued support.

I was invited along the BNI Cumbernauld Chapter meeting on 20 December.  At the meeting Steve Murray and Alan Penman donated £20 each to the Centre in lieu of sending Christmas card to their BNI colleagues.  Thanks to Steve and Alan for this donation.

Craigmarloch Community Council carried out their annual fundraising for the Centre around Craigmarloch on Saturday 16 December raising £583.86.  Thanks to Chairman Barney Kinslar, his Council colleagues and the residents in Craigmarloch for this generous donation.

Thanks to Frank Yorke of Yorke’s Butchers in Dundee, his staff and customers for their generous donation of £68.02 from their collecting cans.

Thanks to George and Margaret Ann Penman in Fife for their generous donation and continued support.

Thanks to Nicola Kirkham and colleagues in Citigroup for their generous donation of £158.

The members of Sovran Over Sixties Club in Greenfaulds continued their support of the Centre with a donation of £35.  Thanks to Marion MaLachlan and her fellow members.

Thanks to Mrs Sherry in Cumbernauld for her donation to the Centre.

So many donations I have run out of space.  More donations in the next newsletter, but in the meantime thanks to everyone for the very generous donations.

Bag Packing at Sainsburys
Thanks to Agnes Dickson of Strathclyde Police for organising bag packing at Sainsburys in Braehead over the weekend of 25 and 26 November.  Some staff from the Centre, personnel from Strathclyde Police and a few friends and family supported this fundraising initiative and £1708.89 was raised.  Thanks also go to everyone who helped with bag packing and Sainsburys for their support

Christmas Cards
Last January I went to the launch of the Ling Design Christmas Card Collection for 2006.  I won first prize in the draw, which was 500 packs of our choice of Christmas Cards for the Centre.  The Ling rep Karen Dawes visited the Centre and the children in the Nursery chose the card (left).  The first order contained 535 pack of the cards, which were sold at £3/pack.  I ordered a further 262 packs, which sold within weeks and a further 262 packs were ordered.  They arrived in mid-November in time for the Cumbernauld Cultural Forum’s Art and Craft Fayre and their Variety Show on 22 and 24 November. In total £1375 has been raised via the Christmas cards.  I am very grateful to the parents, staff, families, friends and supporters who bought the cards

 Art Exhibition in Princes Square
The management at Princes Square very kindly agreed to the Centre exhibiting the children’s artwork for five days from Monday 02 to Friday 06 October.  We had many pieces of artwork covering the courtyard in the lower ground floor of Princes Square.  All sold apart from two pieces and between the sale of paintings and the donations in the collecting cans a total of just over £500 was raised.  The object of the exercise was awareness raising rather than fundraising.  The Lord Provost of Glasgow, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Cameron opened the exhibition on the Monday and I am very grateful to her for coming along.  After opening the exhibition the Lord Provost invited some of the children to visit the City Chambers and have lunch at a future date.  Thanks also go to Asia and Tracy of the Princes Square Management Team for all their help and to David Fraser and his staff at Fantoosh for their help.  Thanks to the Evening Times, who covered the opening.

Centre Transport
Over the last few months we have had three very generous donations from Trusts towards new Centre transport totalling £110,000.  The first donation of £42,500 was reported in the Autumn Newsletter.  Children’s Aid (Scotland) Ltd donated £42,500 to purchase a sixteen seater mini bus.  Monte Marco, Chairman of the Committee, Treasurer Bryan Jackson and Committee member, David Jaffe, visited at the end of July to present the children with a cheque.  On 26 October Monte was back at the Centre, this time with Tom Cromar to present the mini bus to Centre Patron Muriel Gray and some of the children from the Nursery and School Groups.  The R S Macdonald Charitable Trust donated £25,000 towards a new vehicle and Radio Clyde Cash for Kids made a £42,500 donation in October for a further mini bus.  This time we plan to buy a twelve seater mini bus and use the remainder of the donation towards a people carrier.  We have identified a people carrier with rotating seats, which will greatly help us to get children into the carrier.

On Thursday 09 November I attended the Children’s Aid (Scotland) fundraising dinner in Glasgow.  During the evening I told those attending what the donations, totalling £84,000, had meant to the Craighalbert Centre and to thank everyone for their support.  A short video shot at the Centre was also shown.  I had a wonderful night sitting next to ex Rangers Skipper Richard Gough, had a chat with Ally McCoist, Andy Goram, Pat Nevin, Trevor Steven and Fraser Wishart.  The evening was hosted by Andy Cameron and the speaker was Roger de Courcey with Nookie Bear, who was hilarious.  Thanks go to Monte and the Committee for inviting me along and to Monte’s, son-in-law, Russell, for his hospitality

Visit from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue
On the afternoon of Tuesday 29 August, Neil Orchard and the firefighters from Blue Watch at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Cumbernauld Station visited the Centre with two fire tenders.  The children in the Nursery and School Groups really enjoyed the visit.  They saw inside the tenders, sprayed water about the car park, wore the firefighters helmets and saw their wellies and jackets.  Thanks go to the Neil and his colleagues for visiting.  The next visit will be in the morning so the children in the Parent and Child Group will also be able to see the tender.

The Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments, Craighalbert Centre
1 Craighalbert Way, Cumbernauld, Scotland, G68 0LS
01236-456100, 01236-736889 (fax), 07917-160544
Charity No: SC008428, gill@craighalbert.org.uk, www.craighalbert.org.uk

Craighalbert Centre, a school for children with Cerebral Palsy combining Conductive Education and the Scottish curriculum to teach life skills and independence.  Part-time and full-time placements for children 0-8 years.  Sessional and periodic placements for children 2-16 years.