Four kind-hearted students rolled out the red carpet tonight in an effort to improve hospital accommodation for the families of sick children last night.
The team from Robert Gordon’s University hosted the Hollywood dance at the Carmelite Hotel, Aberdeen, to raise money to bring additional comforts to parents at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
The evening was the brainchild of fourth-year events management students Rowan Stewart, Catriona Fox, Will Wilkie and Sarah Anderson, who hope to raise thousands of pounds for the Archie Foundation, the official charity of the hospital.
The group toured the family accommodation at Foresterhill while they were making their plans and invited mums and dads to join them in a night to remember while they raised money for their cause.
Inspired by the glitz and glamour of the Oscars, guests were wined and dined during a three course meal, before an evening of entertainment and dance.
Proceeds will go towards refurbishing the parents’ accommodation on the children’s hospital’s first floor, which serves as a home from home for families – sometimes for months at a time. It offers 20 beds for mums and dads, while Archie also supplies pull-out beds next to the children’s ones.
Ms Anderson, 21, of Glassel, said: “We automatically knew this was a worthwhile charity. We started to look into the amount of work they do for all the sick children and facilities for parents.
“Thankfully we are in a healthy enough position to attend university and put on events, so we are doing this for all the children who aren’t well enough right now.”
She added: “As a group we visited the hospital to see what improvements were needed most and we also visited the parents’ accommodation.
“Some of the parents stay in the accommodation for months and do not have the standard of facilities that they should have.
“We wanted to invite the parents staying in the accommodation to our event, so they could have a worry-free night out and get a break from the hospital for an evening to enjoy themselves.”
The group has set a target of £3,000 for the evening, which will include an acoustic set from Evening Sprint followed by a DJ set.
There will also be a raffle featuring prizes from several north-east companies.