The family of a little boy who died shortly after his first birthday has rallied their north-east community to raise thousands of pounds for charity.
Little Charlie Anderson died last June aged just 13 months after a stay in the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH).
And in a bid to keep their son’s memory alive Charlie’s parents, Stevie and Deborah from Fraserburgh, have raised more than £20,000 in aid of the hospital’s official charity – The ARCHIE Foundation.
The cash has been raised during six months of charity golf competitions, marathons, cycles, swims and fun days carried out by residents all over the town.
And as a result of their hard work the Andersons have generated a total of £25,145 for the charity.
Last night Mrs Anderson said she had received “unbelievable support” from Broch residents.
She said: “We’ve had so many different people do different things.
“It’s great to help out ARCHIE, we just want to help them make a difference.
“I’d really like to thank the community and I want everyone to know how much we appreciate their contributions to our fundraising, especially little eight-year-old Molly who swam five miles for us and the folk at Playbarn Nursery where Charlie went, they played a big part in the final total.”
Mr Anderson organised the Charlie Anderson Memorial Tournament at Fraserburgh Golf Club on June 11, and was amazed at the turnout to support his family’s fundraiser.
He said: “It’s a crazy amount, we have raised over £25,000.
“We have had unbelievable support from the people of the Broch, it just shows you what great community spirit there is.
“We will be doing the golf event every year now, it was a great success and we had over 190 attend. On the day the wife had a fun day with the kids, we had bouncy castles, face painting and that, it was a great kids day out, and a great way to remember Charlie.”
Emma Slesser, fundraising manager for The ARCHIE Foundation, said: “The loss of Charlie Anderson was an extremely sad story to hear but to watch the Anderson family do so well with their fundraising throughout this time has been incredibly heart-warming.
“To raise over £25,000 for local sick children in Charlie’s memory is a fantastic achievement that the family and the whole community of Fraserburgh who got involved should be very proud of.
“Without their support, the fundraising campaign would not have reached the great heights that it has and we thank Deborah and Stevie for their enthusiasm in rallying everyone around to raise such an incredibly total.”
