A pair of north-east hoteliers have handed over an £8,000 donation to an Aberdeen cancer charity.
Conrad and Lesley-Anne Ritchie, owners of the former Tufted Duck Hotel in St Combs, pledged the cash to Clan Cancer Support to help safeguard the future of its services and Westburn Road centre as the vital lifeline faces a drop in income during the pandemic.
The couple are backing Clan’s “here for you” appeal in a bid to bridge that funding gap after Mr Ritchie, chairman of Crimond Charitable Trust, helped set up Clan’s centre in the village’s Community Hub in 2018.
He said: “My wife and I have been passionate supporters of Clan for several years.
“They have an incredible impact across the communities of the north-east, and I’m delighted to continue to support them with this donation.”
Since March the charity has answered more than 1,226 support calls, delivered 424 counselling sessions and provided 511 support sessions to poorly children and their families.
The charity’s chief executive, Dr Colette Backwell, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Conrad and Lesley-Anne for their ongoing support.
“Not only have they generously donated to our appeal, but they have also been instrumental in sourcing and donating sanitiser, PPE and other items to the Clan Haven, our bed and breakfast facility for cancer patients and their family undergoing treatment in Aberdeen, and our Crimond centre.”
The charity’s appeal is being backed by Aberdeenshire pop star Emeli Sande, oil and gas company Serica Energy, the Cormack Foundation and more than 250 individual donors.
