In 2023 we donated a total of £2,500 to 5 local charities. Macmillan cancer support in Golspie, Diabilty Golf Highland Muir of Ord, Ullapool Garden of Reflection, The British Legion, and Kinder Croft Nursery in Ullapool. Thank you to all our members.

Following the success of the village Hub which is widely used by the community the Trust are hoping to undertake the restoration of the village Hall and improve the facilities.

The money will be used to provide day care facilities for up to a total of 24 people who attend the Resource Centre on a regular basis.

The money will be used to buy equipment for a Poly Tunnel which is to be erected to provide the children with additional space to carry out certain activities.

Money will be used to fund the Meals on Wheels service and provide home care for many old and infirm elderly throughout the Black Isle area.

The school teaches physically and mentally impaired children and young adults. At present they are fund raising for a defibrillator for the school and it is intended that the money will go towards this project.

The donation is to be used to support 70 young carers to take part in a Christmas bowling event. This is an opportunity for young carers to meet with other young people, make new friends and have a life alongside their caring responsibilities which is an essential part of the organisation.

The money is to be spent in the purchase of a much desired cool water drinking fountain for the benefit of both patients and staff.

The donation is to be used to purchase much needed items for the Alness and Invergordon Foodbanks.

Built in the grounds of Raigmore Hospital Maggie’s Highlands is a warm and welcoming place, with qualified professionals on hand to offer an evidence-based core programme of support that has been shown to improve physical and emotional wellbeing. Maggie’s Highlands has been providing support for people living with cancer, across the Highlands for 12 years.  Maggie’s Highlands relies on voluntary donations to support and grow its network of Centres and to develop its unique, high quality programme of support. The charity’s aim is to make the biggest difference possible to all those living with cancer. It is predicted that in 2017 Maggie’s Highlands will see around 10,000 highland people who are affected by cancer.

Maggie’s Highlands has the following staff members:

Seonaid Green – Centre Head, Pamela Wright – Cancer Support Specialist, David Robertson – Benefits Advisor , Catarina Baptista – Clinical Psychologist , Andrew Benjamin – Centre Fundraising Manager and David Walker – Fundraising Organiser

The Tain dementia resource centre provides day care for ten people on a Monday and Friday . The routine in day care is Tea and Toast on arrival and a catch up with the each other’s news and what’s going on in the community , have a look at the newspapers and decide what they want to do with their day, have lunch  and afternoon tea before going home at 3.30pm. Their day has a selection of activities and there is always a project/crafts on the go that they work on.

The money will go towards their Christmas lunch on the 4th of December in the St Duthas Hotel in Tain and Christmas presents for everyone.

The Alzheimer Scotland support group for carers in Golspie provides therapeutic peer support for family carers where they have opportunities to meet others, learn from each other as well as keeping abreast of developments in dementia care locally and nationally with Alzheimer Scotland. The group meets on the last Friday of the month in East Sutherland Voluntary Group office, Alba, Main Street, Golpsie, 11am - 12.30pm. All family carers of those living with dementia are welcome to come along.

Nigel Baird, past Captain of the Ross Sutherland Seniors Golf Society, presents a cheque on behalf of the society for £500 to Andrew Murray (coxwain) of  the RNLI at Invergordon.

The Lochinver Lifeboat Station has operated an all-weather Lifeboat for nearly 40 years.  In April the Coxswain David MacAskill and his volunteer  Crew were recognised for their part in saving the lives of four fishermen whose stricken boat was in danger of being swept onto rocks at Cape Wrath in rough seas and darkness in December 2014.  Coxswain David MacAskill is to be awarded the RNLI Bronze Award for Gallantry - one of the charity's highest accolades.  This is the first time in Lochinver's nearly 50 years history that the station has received such an award for saving lives at sea and is only the seventh Bronze Medal to be awarded in Scotland in the last 16 years.

The Bradbury centre is open 4 days a week delivering a Wellbeing service to clients from East Sutherland, Dornoch, Tain, Edderton and surrounding areas.  Clients arrive in the morning and begin with Tea/Coffee and a chat before getting involved in various activities i.e. chair based exercise, memory games, board games, knitting, etc. we also have visits from outside parties to deliver music and movement, reflexology, Ipad skills etc.  Our band of volunteers also help with activities such as gardening, flower arranging, painting and lots more.  The centre has its own mini bus which picks up clients from their home, the bus is run as a Dial a Bus two days a week and on service runs the other two days, this allows members of the community to access Lairg, Tain and Dornoch.  The centre is a Charity and relies on the generous gifts from groups such as yourselves.  Once again thank you on behalf of the Board, Staff and clients.

John states that the Ross-shire Branch of the MS Society has over 100 members living in Ross-shire and Sutherland.  The group raises funds locally to assist its members and others living in both areas that are affected by MS.  This may involve grants towards medical aids, such as beds or wheelchairs, or helping to source suitable respite and the production of a regular newsletter which keeps the members connected. 

We have a range of activities for our members including social afternoons, therapy days, special days out, an annual lunch and meetings for carers.  Some of the funds raised also are used to support medical research into the causes and relief of MS.

We really appreciate those individuals and groups that support our cause.  Many people affected by MS benefit from these donations.

Amanda Burt, Fundraising Manager for the Hospice states that “At Highland Hospice we aim to support people, their families and carers, living with an advancing, life shortening illness in the Highlands to live the best possible life and to prepare for and experience the best possible death.  By managing pain and other physical symptoms, we help make time and space for reflection, for gaining perspective and for achieving a measure of calm and tranquillity. Crucially, our team also offers advice with the emotional, social and spiritual issues that may arise and works with patients and loved ones at a time of transition to help them enjoy, value and commemorate life.  By delivering and sharing our skills in our inpatient unit and day therapy centres, in local hospitals and care homes and at home, we seek to provide our patients and their loved ones with respect, dignity and choice both during the patient’s illness and into bereavement.

Highland Hospice is committed to the principles of equality and diversity and our services are offered free of charge to all adults in the Highlands.  We are an independent local charity reliant on our community and your contribution of time or money, as a volunteer or donor, can make a meaningful difference to people when they need it most.  Please support your Highland Hospice.

The centre provides a hub  for information and support for people affected by Dementia as well as providing a range of activities and services.

The centre is open daily from 9am to 5pm and the staff are also involved in outreach work for people living with dementia, their families and friends.

Policy and engagement manager, Karen Steel said: “I just want to thank Roy and the seniors golf society for their generous support. This is a fantastic amount which will help us to reach more people with Dementia and their families in the area”

Connecting Young Carers is a Highland wide project which supports young people aged 5-24 who carry out a considerable caring role at home.  This may mean they are looking after a parent, sibling, or grandparent with either a physical health issue, a learning disability, a mental health issue or it could be a parental substance misuse issue.  

Young carers can be the primary carer in the home where there are no other carers, or they may be a secondary carer where there are others who also provide care.

The project aims to ensure that young people who carry out a caring role are also able to have a life outside of caring. They provide opportunities to have some respite from caring, hold activity days, residential weekends and residential week breaks. They also offer fun activities and access to opportunities going on in local areas of Highland.

Connecting Young Carers provide training to other agencies and in schools.  Their main goal is to ensure young people are not disadvantaged through their caring role.

The Project Build Appeal has been launched to raise the funds required to rebuild the hospice’s inpatient unit on Ness Walk in Inverness.  The unit is now over 25 years old and, at half the size suggested by current healthcare guidelines, no longer offers patients and families the privacy and space they deserve. Currently there are only four single and two shared rooms in the unit, and there is also a lack of space for families and crucial bereavement support services.

 By rebuilding the hospice will be able to double the size of the current unit while staying on the same site, and provide nine single en-suite bedrooms plus one much larger shared room. There will also be more space for family accommodation and three dedicated counselling rooms, plus the scope needed to develop an innovative virtual hospice.

 Fiona Patience, Project Build Appeal fundraiser at Highland Hospice, said:

“We are so grateful to all the members for donating such a fantastic amount of money to our Project Build Appeal.

“Thanks to the generosity of groups like the Ross and Sutherland Seniors Golf Society, we have passed the halfway mark in our appeal to rebuild our inpatient unit so we can continue to offer the highest quality of care to the Highland community.”

Highland Homeless Trust (HHT) is a charity, registered in Scotland, that aims to relieve suffering and hardship through the provision of such guidance, support and housing that is deemed necessary. In practical terms HHT provides a range of housing support services that are intended to assist vulnerable people to sustain their tenancy. This help can take the form of help with budgeting, shopping, dealing with benefits, opening bank accounts, advocating rights and helping to rebuild relationships with social and family networks.

They provide services to young people and adults of all ages and both genders. A high proportion of the people they work with are socially marginalised and often live very isolated and lonely lives where issues of mental health bear heavily on their ability to function.