I’m really delighted to be able to let you know that we have raised £1,000 so far for the fundraising for the Borders Macmillan Centre Appeal.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has bought the A Garden for Wildlife cards so far, as well as to Footeprint who donated the first 1,000 cards for the appeal.  Here’s me outside the Macmillan Centre cheesing with my giant cheque.  You can read more about why I wanted to help with the fundraising for the expansion of the Macmillan Centre in my original blog post.  It’s a cause very dear to my heart and it has been an absolute privilege to get involved.

I’ve got more good news!  Because of an unexpected enormous donation, the Macmillan Centre Appeal has reached it’s target well ahead of schedule.  This is fab news as it means the building works can progress quickly.  The hope is that the new facilities will be ready in November of this year!  This means that I am progressing with Stage Two of my fundraising plan a little ahead of schedule.  I wanted to create a range of cards that would continue to contribute for the long term after the glamour of the initial appeal.  Therefore, the cards printed from now on will donate 10% of each sale to the ongoing enhancement of the Macmillan Centre, in particular to the upkeep of the beautiful gardens.  It’s just a tiny change in focus – from the initial appeal to a general fund – but I wanted to let you know that the money the cards are raising will still be really useful over the long term.

I’m also very excited that the Borders Macmillan Centre is the focus of all the fundraising at the annual Art at Ancrum event.  Art at Ancrum is a 3-day arts and crafts extravaganza in the pretty Borders village of Ancrum.  30+ artists take over every free space in the village.  This year we are doing teas, coffees and scones in the Village Hall to raise as much money as possible for the Borders Macmillan Centre.  How many more reasons do you need to come along!?  Also, if anyone would like to volunteer to serve the teas and coffees, please let me know.  It’s from Saturday 5th – Monday 7th May 2018.

Some of you may remember that I promised to raffle off the original artwork for the card range as part of the fundraising efforts.  Well, because the target for the appeal was reached so quickly, it has meant that there’s not as urgent a need for the raffle, and since raffles are loads of work to organise, I’ve decided against running one.  Instead, I will be donating a portion of sales of any of the original artwork sold to the general Borders Macmillan Centre fund.  The Leaf Piles drawings has already gone to a lovely new home, and the other pieces will be available at Art at Ancrum.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks for supporting me in my fundraising and for buying cards!  I really am most grateful.  Every penny will make a difference to the experience of cancer patients in the Scottish Borders.  You can find the cards here.