Andrew’s mum pledges to help Carluke family

Heather McNaughton’s son Andrew, who had cerebral palsy, died in November at the age of just 19.

Heather and the rest of the family had been busy raising money to send Andrew to a specialist college in Lancashire through the Friends of Andrew McNaughton campaign.

However, with her son’s untimely death, Heather decided to turn the campaign into a charity with a pledge to help local causes, people suffering with various disabilities and animal welfare charities.

Heather said: “We felt that this was a great way of keeping Andrew’s memory alive.”

The first cause Heather pledged to help was the family of six-year-old Carluke youngster Ben Ireland, who has autism.

Ben’s mum Louise and the rest of the family have been fundraising to build a specialist sensory room for Ben at their home in Cairneymount Road.

The purpose-built sensory room will give Ben a quiet place to relax when the buzz around the house gets too much for him.

The family have raised almost £5000 of the £8000 needed to complete the room for Ben but still need to purchase specialist equipment.

However, when Heather saw Louise’s fundraising efforts on a local Facebook page she decided that she had to help.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke Gazette which is in the shops now.