Family's fundraising tribute to dad

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 28 Oct 2009 12:33 0 Comments

A FAMILY raised over £1500 for causes close to their own hearts by holding a hugely successful garage sale in memory of their father in Dollar.

Sally Douglas organised the garage sale to raise money for Horseback UK, a charity which helps servicemen and women recover from post traumatic stress and also gives service personnel decompression time.

The Scottish Branch of Horseback UK, which has only just received its charity status, is being run by Sally's brother Jock Hutchison, who is an ex-Royal Marine, from his family's home in Aberdeenshire.

The family, who all grew-up in Dollar, decided to hold the garage sale after their father Jack Hutchison sadly passed away recently. He was a former Royal Marine and had been a keen supporter of the Horesback UK charity.

And part of the money raised will go to Ward 16 at Stirling Royal Infirmary as this is where Sally's father was cared for before he died.

Sally told the Advertiser, "It was an absolutely amazing day and we were delighted to raise £1500. My dad was a pupil at Dollar Academy and then lived in Dollar where he and my mum Mairi were very well known.

"The garage sale was something we had been talking about for a while and my father was so supportive of what Jock was doing with the Horseback UK charity that we just thought after he died that it would be a nice tribute to him.

"We would like to thank everyone who came along on the day. Everyone was so generous and so many people knew my father and my mother. Two or three people even just came and contributed money and it really made us feel what we were doing was special."

Sally went on, "We decided to donate part of the money to Stirling Royal Infirmary's Ward 16 because the staff there were phenomenal - they didn't only look after my dad in the last few days, they also looked after the rest of the family through the whole process."

Sally's brother Jock was also delighted that the garage sale raised so much money for the Horseback UK charity, which he has spent several years trying to establish and now hopes he can develop further.

The charity provides a safe, secure environment to aid those serving in the armed forces who have suffered acute stress as a result of active service using American Quarter horses which are renowned for their strength, agility but most importantly calm nature.

Jock combines equine therapy, nature therapy and adventure training and provides part of the rehabilitation process for serving personnel and veterans from the UK military from his home in Aboyne and already works with service personnel from the Royal Marine's 45 Commando who are based in Arbroath.

For more information on the work of Horseback UK go to its website www.horseback.org.uk or contact Jock on his email address, jock@horseback.org.uk

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