A £1997 donation from Lochmaben Golf Club will help relatives of sick children travel to visit them in Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.
The donation goes to the Dean Johnstone Travel Fund, set up to help support travel by sick children and their families in Dumfries and Galloway.
The club raised the money by holding its annual Mhairi-L trophy golf competition and raffle on 22nd August 2021, and the Bank of Scotland in Castle Douglas also made a £500 contribution.
Lochmaben Golf Club captain Colin Will said: “The club men’s captain each year gets to choose a charity for the club to support that year. I wanted us to support a local charity this year, and I happened to know Kirstine Burns at DGRI, and she recommended the Dean Johnstone Fund.”
Managed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway, the fund provides grants to help with the cost of travel for families who need to bring children to hospital for repeated treatment, or visit them in hospital.
Dean Johnstone was treated in DGRI and made several journeys to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. After his death, aged four weeks, in 1988, his family and friends began raising funds to support other families in similar situations.
Kirstine Burns, senior charge nurse on the DGRI childrens’ ward, said: “When children have to travel long distances for treatment and ongoing investigations, it can put a lot of financial strain on their families – especially if they have to make several journeys.
“The Dean Johnstone Travel Fund is there to support families who otherwise may struggle with the additional travel costs associated with a child who has complex health issues.
“This donation will help the fund to continue to give support, and we’re very grateful to everyone at Lochmaben Golf Club for the donation and the Bank of Scotland for the additional contribution.”
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