Charity is bowled over by club’s generosity

Doreen Strachan organised the ladies’ night at Auchinloch Bowling Club after her four-year-old grandson, Gavin, endured multiple operations, including open heart surgery.

She said: “He wouldn’t be with us now if it wasn’t for all the operations and treatment he had at Yorkhill Hospital.

“Gavin was born a Down Syndrome baby and his heart didn’t function properly because it wasn’t fully developed.”

Gavin was in and out of hospital due to complications following a tracheostomy procedure to help him breathe. The tube was taken out six months ago and his health is improving.

Doreen said: “He still attends Yorkhill and will possibly need surgery in the future, but for now he’s doing very well. He’s a very active young man.”

Around 60 women attended the fundraiser and they were entertained with a live band, games, quizzes and a raffle, which raised over £300 independently, thanks to generous donations from local businesses.

Doreen said: “It was a great chance for us ladies to let our hair down. We did have two men running the bar and one of them even ended up dancing on the table with a wig on at the end of the night. Thanks to the generosity of everyone who came along and took part, a great night was had by all.”

Auchinloch Bowling Club hosts a number of events annually to sponsor charities which have touched the lives of their members in some way, including a karaoke and race night which is planned for the end of February to raise funds for local Crohn’s disease charity Cure Crohn’s Colitis.

Although £1,200 was the total amount raised, a large sum of that was raised prior to the event thanks to souvenir badges that Doreen collected whilst volunteering at the Commonwealth Games in the summer.

She said: “I was an umpire at the commonwealth games and got country badges while I was there. Badges from the Norfolk Islands, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England and I sold them all on E-Bay. They sold very quickly and one of them even got £37.50. Better to sell them than have them sit in a drawer in my house.”