Scrabble letters and lego bricks have been the building blocks for a fundraising drive for the family of a Forth Valley College employee, whose husband was badly burned in an accident at work.
FVC support analyst Renatta Brockie’s daughter Rowan (11) has expertly turned her hand to producing rings, keyrings, pet tags, cufflinks and bookmarks to raise money for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary Burns Unit and the Isa McSorely Endowment Fund, in the last few months and has already raised £700 (£500 in just two months) for the worthy causes.
Supported by her mother and father Colin – who is recovering from his injuries – Rowan is currently working on the following additional items in preparation for a Christmas stall at her school (Comely Park Primary School in Falkirk) – Scrabble letter necklaces, Scrabble letter earrings and Christmas tree baubles. All items are priced between 50p and £5 and all the profits go the Burns Unit charities.
Renatta explained:
“In early March 2016 my husband Colin had an accident at work where he was badly burned, he was rushed to Forth Valley Hospital and then transferred to the Burns Unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
“His injuries were that 25% of his body was severally burned and he was kept in the Burns Unit for a month, he is still receiving treatment from the Burns Unit and is still off work. This was quite a horrendous and worrying time for the family. During the time he was in hospital, the nursing staff were all fantastic and not just with him, but also with myself and the kids. As he was there for so long, they got to know us and we got to know them and we always felt that they genuinely cared - we will forever be grateful for their care during this time.
“Once my husband came out of hospital my daughter decided that she would like to do some fundraising for the Burns Unit to say thank you to the nurses for looking after her dad so well. I thought this was a great idea as it would give her something to focus on and as a family we wanted to say thank you.
“She started making button rings, scrabble letter rings and bookmarks and she posted pictures of them on her Instagram page and started selling them to her school friends. She then had the idea for keyrings so started making them with scrabble letters and lego bricks, someone asked her about pet tags and scrabble letter pet tags became the next thing. The whole thing just took off and people have been so supportive towards her and before the summer holidays she had a stall in school where she sold the items. She also went round the school telling people what she was doing and why.
“This has become a bit of a family enterprise with both myself and Colin helping her with aspects of production and selling, but ultimately this is Rowan’s project and we are bursting with pride at what she has achieved and the effort she has put in. Some staff within the college have been kind enough to order items from her and that’s when I become delivery girl in delivering her orders.
“I have setup a Facebook Group called Red Button Crafts – fundraising for the Burns Unit at Glasgow Royal, where she puts pictures of the items she is making and people can send her orders, it also has an album of pets modelling her pet tags.
“We were so proud of her starting this and thought if she could raise £50 -£100 that would be amazing, within two months she had raised more than £500! During October we visited the Burns Unit and she presented them with a cheque for £700 which will be split between the Burns Unit Charity and the Isa McSorley Endowment Fund.”
