Glenurquhart Care Project have been short-listed to become the latest recipients of funding from Scotmid’s Community Connect – potentially being awarded up to £15,000 by members to fund a key project.
Launched in 2017, Community Connect enables Scotmid members to award good cause groups in their local area with a share of £25,000, generated via the sale of single use carrier bags.
In Scotmid’s North Member Region – encompassing Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness – Glenurquhart Care Project, Burghead Community Hall and CANDU (Dundee Cancer Support Network) are the good cause groups, who have been short-listed by a Scotmid member selection panel to receive funding of either the top award £15,000 or two runners-up awards of £5,000.
Scotmid members collect votes by swiping their Community Connect card after every in-store purchase and then cast their votes for their preferred good cause group either in-store or at Scotmid’s North Region Annual General Meeting in Aberdeen in April 2020.
Based in Drumnadrochit, Glenurquhart Care Project are passionate about providing the best individual services to the elderly in their rural community in the bonnie Highlands of Scotland. They feel the same opportunities should be available to all, regardless of a postcode. This is why they have set up their “Free Transportation for All” project. They are seeking funding to secure the longevity of their current transportation provision, which sees them travelling up to 96 miles daily; collecting and dropping off elderly Service Users from their homes so they can attend the Day Care Centre. Scotmid’s support will help to ensure this free of charge service can remain in place to keep the most isolated connected to their own community.
Natasha MacNicol, Fundraiser and Befriender Coordinator, Glenurquhart Care Project said: “The Glenurquhart Care Project are absolutely ecstatic to be shortlisted for Community Connect funding. We are a non-profit, community run charity providing Day Care for the elderly in the bonnie Highlands of Scotland. We are seeking funding for our “Free Transportation for All” project. We currently deliver a free of charge pick-up and drop-off service for all of our Service Users.
“Due to our rural, and often isolating catchment area, this can see us travelling up to 96 miles daily in our minibus and 52 miles daily in our car; ensuring that our wonderful Service Users can join us for our infamous freshly baked scones, a nutritional and hearty lunch, and most importantly some longed for company. This initiative is to ensure that our transportation services can continue to run and remain free of charge for our Service Users. In the current climate continuing to provide this service is becoming increasingly difficult for us. We are asking for your help to keep our Services Users connected to their community and do your part to eradicate loneliness in our elderly.”