£1m Holiday Home For Families Dealing With Cancer
The construction of a £1 million holiday home gifted to families who have children with cancer has started following the fundraising success of a small Edinburgh charity.
It’s Good 2 Give, the charity run by volunteer fundraiser Lynne McNicoll OBE, has turned the turf on a plot of land on the banks of Loch Venacher as work got underway to create The Ripple Retreat.
McNicoll was joined by Tabitha Lawson, age 10, a former cancer patient who received support from the charity at the age of 6 and is now an active ambassador for It’s Good 2 Give.
The new build project will take seven months and will create a three bedroomed modern home which has been designed by award winning architect, Tony Kettle, the designer of the Falkirk Wheel.
40 families are expected to use the retreat every year for short breaks of up to 7 nights each and the building will be ready for its first visitors in March 2016.
Lynne McNicoll, chair and founder of It’s Good 2 Give, told Forth News, “It’s an incredibly happy day today to see the Ripple Retreat underway.
"This is my dream ambition for our charity and a tremendous victory.
" I can’t thank everyone enough for donating to our campaign.”
The campaign to raise £1m hit difficulties earlier this year when Lynne was herself diagnosed with breast cancer.
However the ordeal of chemotherapy has made her even more determined to get the project started.
She added, “My own cancer experience has made me more determined to help families coping with a seriously ill child.
"It is a sad reality that 160,000 children who are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK.
“These courageous children and their families need help and our gift to them will be a short break at our Ripple Retreat.
"We are immensely proud to see the start of an incredible legacy for our charity.”