Speaker Evelyn Grieve - CHAS

Tue, Oct 10th 2017 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm


“I’ve done some really stupid things to fund-raise for charity. Like jumping out of an aeroplane and swimming across Loch Lomond.”

Such were the opening remarks of Evelyn Grieve, to this week’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Kilrymont St Andrews.

Evelyn has for 22 years been a fund-raising unpaid volunteer for CHAS, the Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. In that time she has raised more than £75,000 for the charity, including a one-off sum of £19,000 raised by taking part two years ago in a “Strictly Come Dancing” event.

Formed in 1992, CHAS is the only charity in Scotland which deals with babies and young children up to age 16 who suffer from life-limiting conditions. Currently CHAS is assisting 400 families whose children suffer varying degrees of such illnesses. In addition, they continue to help some 300 bereaved families whose children they have cared for until illness claimed their lives.

Evelyn said the fund-raising carried out by herself and the many other volunteers is crucial to the work of CHAS, which only recently has persuaded the Government to provide 50% of their income.

CHAS has residential homes in Kinross and Balloch and in recent years has set up “home teams” in Inverness and Aberdeen which now allows them to cater for patients all over Scotland. At the moment about £12 million pounds is required annually to fund the organisation, most of which comes from donations, legacies and so on.

Evelyn gave the company several accounts of care given to individual children in the past. Their stories were at the same time sad and very moving but also uplifting when the ongoing benefits to parents and siblings was explained.

Evelyn also played a short DVD film, hosted and narrated by Scots actor Ewen McGregor, who is a long-time supporter of CHAS. The film highlighted how families were encouraged to have respite and relief by using CHAS individually tailored “planned breaks”.

The organisation are also partners with other institutions, such as the Marie Curie cancer trust and NHS hospitals to ensure the best care for patients and continued aftercare for families.

Club member James Yule proposed a vote of thanks for the talk and gave a “big thank you” to Evelyn and her colleagues for the wonderful work done by CHAS.

Following this, President John Spittal took great pleasure in donating on behalf of Kilrymont Rotary Club a cheque for £800 to Evelyn and CHAS.

He also presented a cheque for £250 to member Will Aitken, who accepted it on behalf of the St Andrews and North East Fife Ramblers Association.

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