2009 has been a momentous year for the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation. As we approach the first year anniversary of the Foundation in February, we would like to reflect on the past year.
When we started the Foundation, we had no idea what the response was going to be. We have met so many amazing people who have encouraged us, donated to us, told us their stories and all of these people have made us more committed to reaching our goal of raising £3m to support people affected by cancer.
Maggie’s – We have now worked with Maggie’s for almost a year and we have spent a lot of time in the Centres in Dundee, Edinburgh and at the interim service in Lanarkshire where we will build the Elizabeth Montgomerie Building. The dedication of the staff at Maggie’s and the positive work they do with people affected by cancer is humbling and we are so pleased to be working with them. One person who we met at Maggie’s in Dundee told us his story and although he has sadly died now, ‘C’ was one of the reasons that we decided to support Maggie’s. He explained how the staff had supported him and his family through the terminal diagnosis that he had received, how they had helped him, his wife and young children come to terms with his diagnosis. They also helped him get his finances in order so that his family would be financially stable. The Elizabeth Montgomerie Building will be a legacy to people like ‘C’ who showed us how Maggie’s can helps and supports people through this dreadful disease.
Hotel du Vin/Malmaison – The hotel group in Scotland have been our biggest supporters to date. Their enthusiasm, commitment and encouragement have been very important to us moving forward. Again we are so grateful for everything they have done; from raising money through the discretionary £1 on every bill through to the magnificent effort of 30 staff completing the West Highland Way for us in November. Hotel du Vin/Malmaison have raised over £100,000 for us this year, which is an amazing effort. Thank you to Robert, Pauric and all the staff that have made this partnership such a success. The Daily Record/Sunday Mail have also helped us so much to raise the profile of the charity and this Christmas they have launched a Christmas Appeal to generate further income for the Foundation. Annie Brown has written a number of great articles throughout the year, many of which are on this site. Annie has spent a lot of time with us at Maggie’s , walking the West Highland Way etc and we are grateful to her and the editor Bruce Waddell for their support.
In August, Diageo and Gleneagles chose the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation as the beneficiary of the Johnnie Walker Championships. This was a very successful partnership and over 30 volunteers on the course during the event collecting money and we hosted a reception on the Saturday night. We raised almost £50,000 during the event and the support of all the volunteers, Graeme Marchbank, Patrick Elsmie and their team was invaluable.
There have been so many other people that we have met who have helped us this year and we are grateful to all of them. Nicola Mathieson ran the Glasgow 10k for the Foundation, Opening More doors gave us a very generous donation and a number of golf clubs including Swanston and Dunning Ladies Section have contributed to the Foundation. Mike Holland and Oil Aid have been a continual support and we look forward to working with them again next year.
We have some very exciting plans next year. In February, we will celebrate our first year anniversary with an announcement about the Foundation and in March we will be hosting an event in Monaco. Next year will be a busy one for Colin and the Foundation but we are very excited about our plans and are confident that we will be well on our way to meeting our target. We recently filmed a DVD and Colin said that ‘If he could help one person affected by cancer to receive the support that he did not receive, then this would be his greatest achievement ever.’ We hope to be able to support as many people as possible next year and in the future.
Thank you all for you continued support, Lucinda Rivers – Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation.
