For Shona, every day is filled with kindness
 She lives in Troon with her husband Frank and children Janet (15), Frankie (14) and Joseph (12).
My intention was to interview Shona about a typical week as a CHAS fund-raiser. But I soon found out there’s no such thing!
Shona explains, “My job is extremely varied and no two weeks are the same. Last week, for example, I spent a day at Rachel House training volunteers to be speakers for CHAS before giving them a guided tour of the hospice.
“The next day I held a meeting with a gentleman from Balloch who’d phoned us after seeing workmen at the site of the new hospice. It’s just down the road from where he lives and he wanted to discuss fund-raising ideas.
“Later that night I attended a dinner at the Rotary Club in Troon. I was there to talk about the work of CHAS and accept a cheque as some of the club’s members had done a sponsored motorcycle tour around Scotland.
“The following morning I spent three or four hours signing hundreds of newsletters. We publish two newsletters a year and send them to all the people who have sent in donations.
Signed personally
“It’s important to let the public know how we use their money. It makes them feel involved and encourages them to do more fund-raising work in the future. In the West of Scotland alone we have 8000 letters to send out, and every one has to be signed personally by myself or one of the other CHAS staff.”
Shona admits she didn’t know much about CHAS before she joined the organisation, but she says it immediately became clear that this was more than just a job.
“The hours can be long and exhausting, but CHAS is a cause that’s second-to-none,” she added. “The best thing about my job is having an opportunity to see genuine kindness in people.
“One elderly woman sends in £10 every month without fail, along with a chatty letter about what she’s been up to. I always write her one back and she really appreciates it. Another man sends in any pennies he finds in the street, which is great because every little helps.
“One man ran up Ben Nevis with a rocking horse on his back and just last week we received a cheque for £20,000 from a Sunday Post reader who didn’t want any publicity.
“The main part of my job, though, is speaking to groups about the work of CHAS. I go along to schools, churches, sports clubs, etc, to talk about CHAS and encourage people to raise money.
“I love doing it because the reaction is usually incredible. When people hear someone from a charity representing children with life-limiting conditions is coming to talk to them, they think it’ll be depressing.
“But once I tell them about Rachel House and some of the brave children I’ve met, they all feel uplifted because it’s such an emotive subject.
“There’s obviously a sad side to my work as well. We get to know the families of all the children who attend Rachel House so when a child dies it affects everyone at CHAS.”
Excited
Shona wasn’t involved with CHAS when Rachel House opened, so she’s particularly excited about the new hospice at Balloch.
“I joined CHAS around the time of Rachel House’s first birthday,” she said. “I can’t wait for the new hospice to open as I know just how busy Rachel House is these days and how Scotland desperately needs another children’s hospice.
“I’m one of four CHAS fund-raisers in the West of Scotland and we also have three administration staff and around 20 volunteers.
“We’re only supposed to work 35-hour weeks, but it never works out that way because we try to accommodate every request — but I’m sure the day Robin House opens, all the nights and weekends we’ve given up will seem worthwhile.”
|
|
Here’s how to get a visit from someone like Shona
THE AIM of this campaign is to help The Children’s Hospice Association Scotland raise money to build and run a new hospice on the banks of Loch Lomond. It will cost £10 million.
To raise this amount, we at The Sunday Post work with the people from CHAS, like Shona, helping and publicising the good work of people like Nan Hendrie, who is also featured on this page.
You can contact us at The Sunday Post, c/o CHAS, 72 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 7DA or e-mail us at
hospice@sundaypost.com
Cheques should be made payable to Sunday Post CHAS Appeal.
If you need some inspiration or ideas for a fund-raising event, or if you would just like to find out more about our campaign, you can see all our previous hospice stories
on this website. |
You can e-mail us at:
hospice@sundaypost.com
|
Our photographer caught Shona in a rare quiet moment in her office.
