Over £100,000 of good causes helped in the past six months

East Renfrewshire Good Causes (ERGC) has given out over £100,000 work of goods and services over the past six months.
East Renfrewshire Good Causes founder Russell MacmillanEast Renfrewshire Good Causes founder Russell Macmillan
East Renfrewshire Good Causes founder Russell Macmillan

The charity, set up in 2007 by registered blind man Russell Macmillan from Newton Mearns, can be best described as a good neighbour club which looks to give out acts of love and kindness in memory of the organ donor who allowed its founder to keep living.

Russell said: "To thank both God and the donor for my second gift of life, I want to serve our wider community to show my gratitude and honour of memory of all organ donors"

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During this latest six months of its 15th year, the club has given out more than £101,566+ worth of goods and services across a multitude of varying causes and helping another 463 individual people.

Russell said: "I would like to thank the many brilliantly dedicated and trained frontline workers from both the state and third sector who have brought all these cases to us.

"If it wasn't for the teachers, housing, health and social workers along with the many staff within the myriad of third sector organisations like Citizens Advice Bureau, Cosgrove Care to name just a few, we wouldn't know about these individuals in East Renfrewshire and surrounding areas."

Some of the highlights of the latest six months are –

Providing 50 per cent towards a garden shed to store variety of disability equipment for a child with cerebral palsy who also requires PEG feeding;

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Providing 30 per cent towards bathroom adaptation to enable a frail pensioner to remain safely in their own home instead of moving into residential care home setting;

Providing 50 per cent towards a HyperBaric Oxygen Trial Therapy Session to try and alleviate long Covid symptoms for a woman who spent two months in a coma pre-vaccine availability;

Providing 100 per cent for Women's Aid to give a chromebook to a household fleeing domestic abuse to enable a child to do school work;

Providing 100 per cent to buy a cooker for a blind adult to replace a condemned one, enabling them to maintain their independence by cooking safely;

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Providing 100 per cent to clear a dangerous overgrown path to ensure safe access for an adult with severe mental health issues;

Providing 100 per cent for a young adult, who is just out of just out of temporary homeless accommodation, to have petrol to get to work until pay day.

Since its inception in 2007 to the end of March 2022, ERGC has now given out over £1.4m worth of goods and services in gifts of kindness, letting more than 4,400 people know their community cares for them.

Russell said: "I so hope the organ donor is in heaven looking down approvingly of the achievements all made possible thanks to her two organs living on inside me."

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If you would like to join the growing good neighbour club, Russell says the ideal way is by regular standing order as it allows them to plan out with a regular income and love more neighbours.

To join email [email protected], call 07714293256 or visit www.ergoodcauses.co.uk

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