A Mearns bar owner has raised more than £7,000 for local causes, after being spurred on to help others by her husband’s death to cancer.
Lorna Anderson has now garnered a total of £81,000 for good causes in the past eight years, this year selecting eight organisations and appeals in Stonehaven to benefit.
Along with her husband, Mark, she helped to raise thousands of pounds for Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s maxillo facial unit before he died of cancer in 2014.
In his memory, Mrs Anderson – who runs Stonehaven’s Market Bar -continued generating money for the centre.
The bulk of the fundraising stems from an annual fancy dress and fun day held at the pub every September.
However this year, she wanted to give something back to Stonehaven itself after garnering £7,313 in donations.
The money will now be distributed to the Stonehaven RNLI, the Stonehaven Dialysis Unit, the town’s first responders and Lions Club.
The Lion’s Den kickboxing group, Cycle for Sam and the Stonehaven Highland Games and outdoor pool committees also received a boost.
Mrs Anderson handed the funds to the various organisations at the weekend.
She said: “We raised £7,313 this year which was good considering the (oil) decline and the way things are.
“Over the last eight years we have raised £81,000 altogether. What we do is on first Sunday in September we have a fun day which is fancy dress with a raffle, an auction and lucky dip.
“It is local people who support us and do so every year. It was time for a change and to put something back into the local community.
“It is like putting money back into the town again. It has been really good, it was a lot of hard work. It just started off as something small. We have raised a lot of money.
“It is good fun and we get a lot of support from the businesses in Stonehaven. And my customers and my friends, without them it wouldn’t be possible.”
Chairman of the Stonehaven Highland Games, Roger Barnett, said the funds it received will go towards securing a dancing tent for the event.
He added: “The support is fantastic. Stonehaven Highland Games are delighted with the support we have got from the Market Bar, we’d like to thank them very much and the people that contributed towards it.
“It should go a long way towards contributing for the tent.”
