A north-east car dealership firm has raised more than £77,000 for The ARCHIE Foundation.
John Clark Motor Group is aiming to raise a total of £100,000 towards the charity’s goal of refurbishing the outpatient’s department at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH).
Staff from the company’s 13 branches around the north-east have taken on a range of fundraising challenges for the cause, including cake bakes, mountain climbing, treks across Borneo and bungee jumping – with many more planned over the next year.
One of their most successful recent efforts was a charity golf event at St Andrews, which raised more than £23,000 for the charity.
Renovating the hospital’s outpatient’s department is one of ARCHIE’s High 10 anniversary appeal targets, designed to make the often scary experience of visiting hospital less daunting for sick children.
Victoria Clark, charity coordinator for John Clark said: “When we were asked to help with the High 10 for ARCHIE 10th anniversary appeal we were delighted to commit to raising £100,000 to totally refurbish this, the busiest area of the hospital, which has had more than one million children’s visits since the hospital opened in 2004.
“As well as the natural wear and tear on a busy department, there has been a fundamental change as the upper age in 2004 was 14 years old, but recently that’s changed to 16.
“As we all know there is a very big difference between children’s interests in 2004 and today which is emphasised by the additional age.
“The ARCHIE team will be working with families and staff to plan how the new outpatients department will look but we certainly envisage more high-tech distractions for the children when awaiting their treatment.”
Cassie Thompson, director of Fundraising for ARCHIE said: “The John Clark Motor Group has been a long-time supporter of the charity and we are tremendously grateful for what everyone is doing.
“As Clare experienced on her recent visit, the money raised will enable us to make a very big difference for children and families visiting outpatients in the future.
“The refurbished outpatient’s department will fit seamlessly with the new reception area to create a very child and family-friendly environment which will help to make RACH world-class for today’s and tomorrow’s sick children.”
