Moray charity bags supermarket centenary boost
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A MORAY charity has received £15,000 thanks to food shoppers from across the north-east.
Keiran's Legacy bagged the cash after taking second place in the second of Tesco's special centenary Bags of Help funding rounds, which offered a combined pot of £100,000 across the region.
The charity was established in memory of Elgin Academy pupil Keiran McKandie. Keiran was 16 when he died following a collision with a car while out cycling in March 2016. Since then his family have devoted themselves to funding defibrillators across the north-east and raising awareness of CPR and defibrillation skills.
His mum Sandra was presented with the cheque in Elgin's Tesco earlier this week.
She said: "Keiran’s Legacy is overwhelmed at being chosen for the Centenary Grant for the North East region and we would like to sincerely thank all Tesco customers who have supported us over the past three months.
"This has allowed more people to be aware of Keiran and his legacy, as well as in awareness of how many out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occur and that we can all play a part in saving a life.
"The grant will directly enhance the chance of survival for many people in remote and rural areas and allow us to provide life-saving equipment and training to those communities in Keiran’s name."
Local community champion at Tesco in Elgin, Tracy Gourlay, said it is a charity close to a lot of people's hearts. She said: "It is just fantastic that everyone from the north east of Scotland came together and voted for a charity which is so dear to our community."
First place, and a £25,000 award, went to Alzheimer Scotland, while Young Enterprise Scotland came third to secure £10,000.
Geraldine Ditta, of Alzheimer Scotland, also thanked customers for their support.
She said: "With over 90,000 people living with dementia across Scotland and that number on the rise, Alzheimer Scotland provides a diverse range of dementia-specific activities, support and care for people across Scotland including a 24-hour Freephone Helpline.
"Our high-quality dementia-specific support and community activities include music memories, dementia cafes and creative crafting – all part of our mission to make sure nobody faces dementia alone."
Young Enterprise Scotland will use its grant to support their Enterprising Futures project, which will work with over 700 young people across North Scotland to further develop business knowledge and entrepreneurial skills.
Keith Jackson, Tesco Bags of Help manager, congratulated all of the recipients. He said: "They’re all worthy winners and we hope this funding helps them continue their important work in our communities."
Bags of Help, run in partnership with greenspace scotland, sees funding awarded to thousands of local community projects every year. So far in Scotland, Bags of Help has awarded £10.5 million to 3557 local projects.
The Centenary Grants reached more than 30 regions, with more than £3 million up for grabs.
The winners of the first round of Centenary funding in the north-east were CLAN Cancer Support, Maggie’s and Cardiac Risk in the Young.
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