Fundraiser Liz donates £3,500 to Belford Hospital
A Fort William fundraiser is close to hitting the £40,000 mark for her charity work over the years after she presented staff at the Belford Hospital with a four-figure cheque last week, writes Neill Bo Finlayson.
Liz MacMillan raised £3,500 in just six weeks by selling donated items and organising raffles online to help buy a new laser pen for locating veins.
She also donated £150 to Macmillan nurses in the area with extra cash from the fundraising effort.
Liz, who has been raising funds for a number of Lochaber people and causes over the last 10 years, explained the push to raise the £3,500 was inspired by a friend who had been in hospital and told her about the importance of this equipment.
In total, she has now raised close to £40,000 for local charities and is hoping to hit the £50,000 in the near future - but not before a well-earned break.
‘I love it,’ she told the Lochaber Times. ‘I love helping people and wish I could do it full time, all the time. ‘I’m quite a big softie and keep hearing of people that need help and treatment, so I just keep going.
‘It’s hard going sometimes though and I’m taking a break from it for a month I think.’
Liz’s tenacious fundraising efforts show the power of social media as she says she would not have been able to raise these amounts without the use of her Facebook page.
‘I’ve been doing it for probably over 10 years, but basically over the last four or five years on Facebook it’s become more intense.
‘I used to run car boot sales and the odd raffle which would make two or three hundred pounds every few months.
‘Now on Facebook I can raise much more.’
To follow her progress, ‘like’ Liz’s charity fundraising page on Facebook.