Dad was delighted to raise £4000 and wants us to make it an annual event
Bistroownergivesbacktocancercharity
A Rutherglen man fulfilled his wish to raise money for the charity that helped him through his cancer ordeal.
William Freeman, known as Tully, and his family have raised £4000 for the Beatson Cancer Charity after holding a fundraiser that featured raffles, food and live entertainment.
The event took place on the afternoon of Saturday, April 9, at Tullis Street Halls in Bridgeton.
Tully had wanted to hold the fundraiser due to the amount of support he and his family received from the charity after his terminal cancer diagnosis in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 72-year-old was diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after he retired from the family bistro, where he worked for 25 years with his family.
Tully ran the family business, The Bistro Rutherglen on Hamilton Road, for 25 years with his wife Helen.
They are one of the longest-running family restaurants in South Lanarkshire and have sponsored many community events over the years.
His son Derek said: “Everything went really well.
“There was an unbelievable amount of people that turned up. There were people in and out constantly. The hall actually ended up being too small because of how many people came. There was a point where there was only standing room.
“People were constantly popping into the Bistro dropping off raffle prizes and we had so much we had to club prizes together, we had so much stuff.
“It took an hour and a half to do the raffle.
“Dad enjoyed it, he was really tired though, but was determined to stay and see a lot of customers and family that hadn’t seen them. He was the last person to leave the hall.
“It was really an emotional rollercoaster of a day.
“I kept it together until my friend Ron, who came all the way up from Manchester, sang for us.
“It was a bit overwhelming. It reinforces my faith in humanity, that there are a lot of good people.”
Derek added that his dad has asked for the family to try and make it an annual thing for them to raise money for the charity in his name.
He added: “It made my dad really proud of himself that he raised that amount of money under such difficult circumstances.
“I have to say a big thank you to my daughter, Kirsten. She was the real driving force behind all of this.”
A Beatson Cancer Charity spokesperson said: “We are so grateful to Tully and his family for throwing a fundraiser to raise money for our charity, particularly during such difficult circumstances.
“We are so glad to hear they have benefitted from the support from our charity during his cancer journey.
“We send all our love and best wishes to the family.”