Shona Gossip
A mental health charity will be able to increase its counselling services throughout the north-east thanks to a team of Aberdeen accountants.
Mental Health Aberdeen already provides support, counselling and advice across the region, but will now be able to further develop its services after receiving a cash boost of more than £26,700.
Anderson Anderson and Brown LLP (AAB) nominated the charity as the beneficiary of a 12-month fundraising campaign, which included 10K runs, bake sales and the ice bucket challenge.
Two of the team from the accountancy firm visited the charity’s Comraich day support centre in Inverurie to see how their donation was making a difference.
Their efforts have already funded volunteer counsellor training courses in Banff and Buchan, and the remainder will be split between Comraich day support, and the charity’s carers support and companions befriending projects.
Astrid Whyte, chief executive of Mental Health Aberdeen, said it was a “great joy” to welcome the team to the day centre, and to thank them for their fundraising efforts.
She said: “Their kind and generous support over the past 12 months has been a real touchstone for us. They have made huge efforts to bring in money for us all year and the amount raised has already allowed us to train more counsellor volunteers.
“Thanks to AAB we are aiming to start a new peer support group which will help train service users who have been in Royal Cornhill Hospital to go and speak to patients who are coming out of hospital and help them with the daunting transition, as well as welcoming them to the peer support group at Comraich.”
Val Huggins, who visited the centre along with her colleague Jady Anderson on behalf of AAB, said she was delighted to see how their fundraising efforts would “bolster” the charity’s projects.
“Our staff have had a fantastic time over the past 12 months taking part in a variety of events and initiatives to raise money for Mental Health Aberdeen,” she said.
“It has been great fun and extremely rewarding doing what we can to help such a worthwhile charity which does so much throughout the north-east of Scotland to help people affected by challenges to their mental health.”