SEAFORTH HOUSE

Seaforth House overlooks the village of Maryburgh near Dingwall.  It was built in 1907 by the Earl of Cromarty and dedicated to the people of Ross and Cromarty.

It has been a sanatorium, an auxiliary hospital, a children’s home and a training centre.  It is now and has been for a number of years a Scottish charitable non-profit making Nursing and Respite Care Home, offering people with a variety of disabilities, and special needs day care, weekend breaks, and 4 to 6 weeks holidays in the year.  We have 6 long-term residents and offer emergency admission to clients that require this service, i.e., if a mother, father or carer takes ill and there is no one to care for the client.

The clients that come here have various conditions such as Huntingdon’s Disease, Downs Syndrome, Angelmans Syndrome, Fragile X, to name but a few.  We, the staff at Seaforth, are continuously trying to raise funds to make our clients’ stay as stimulating and interesting as possible by offering trips out in the minibus, musical evenings, swimming, etc.

However, as we are a non-profit making company, there is little to no money for redecoration and upgrading the building or new equipment.  As a result our minibus has seen better days, so much so that it has gone on fire and broken down on various occasions when clients were out for a run.  Although the bus is fixed regularly at a high cost draining the little resources we have, a number of our clients are now afraid to go out in the bus.  I have reached the stage that if clients are going out I need to make sure there are enough staff with cars on duty to go and collect the clients should it break down.

Many of our clients are extremely vulnerable and highly dependent and require to be kept safe, which is not the case with our old bus.

A new minibus would make a tremendous difference to everyone attending the Seaforth for respite.  Clients come from all areas, i.e. Fort William, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Outer Isles, to name but a few.

Thank you for your support.

HIGHLAND HEARTBEAT

The aim of the Heartbeat Appeal is to fund and equip a building to form a focus for cardiac Rehabilitation and research in the Highlands.

Coronary Heart Disease is the biggest killer in the Highlands and almost 3000 people in Highland are diagnosed each year as having Coronary Heart Disease.

Cardiac Rehabilitation is the process by which patients with cardiac disease, in partnership with a multidisciplinary team of health professionals, are encouraged and supported to achieve and maintain optimal physical and psychosocial health.

Money raised by the Highland Cross will be used to furnish the Cardiac Rehabilitation Gymnasium with the appropriate cardiovascular equipment.

This will enable us to provide exercise sessions for people with cardiac disease to enable them to confidently and safely regain, and in many cases, improve on their former level of, fitness in a professionally supervised environment.

We will be able to initiate classes for people with Angina and Heart failure also.

This building, although physically in the grounds of Raigmore Hospital, will also provide a resource and support for staff providing Cardiac Rehabilitation throughout the rest of the Highlands.

The equipment provided will improve the quality of life of many people in the Highlands every year and for many years to come.

Thank You.

LOCHABER HYDROTHERAPY

The Directors and Fundraising Committee of Lochaber Hydrotherapy are delighted to have been chosen as a nominated charity by Highland Cross.  It is difficult for people to understand what a big difference your involvement will make to the lives of many people. 

Involvement with Highland Cross, for us is a real breakthrough, not only boosting our funds, but to the thousands of people who need this service across the highlands.  Our aim, to build a Hydrotherapy Pool with Sports Injury Clinic and Mother and Toddler Pool in Fort William, helping all ages and freeing up time at Dingwall and Nairn Pool which will in turn benefit the people in and around Inverness.

Hydrotherapy is a gentle therapeutic treatment.  A programme of exercise tailored to individual need.  The water temperature is 96-98°F.  Muscles relax and with buoyancy, less strain is put on load bearing joints and muscles, allowing people to achieve longer periods of pain-free exercise.

The benefits to people with physical disability of regular Hydro/Physiotherapy is difficult to comprehend, unless you suffer constant pain, hoping for relief.  Pill popping itself causes problems, with side effects.  A Hydrotherapy Pool transforms lives, being able to have treatment near to home without the need for a hospital bed.

Who will benefit from our pool?

Mother and toddlers, having fun, learning to swim.  Sports groups, fitness training, rehab post trauma, post-operative rehabilitation, post joint-replacement (hips, knees), many medical conditions e.g. after stroke, head injury, Parkinson’s Disease, rheumatic conditions, Arthritis, Osteo-arthritis, frozen shoulder, back pain, Fibromyalgia, Ankylosing Spondolitis, autism (highest incidence in the highland), Osteoporosis, fit elderly – keeping fit longer!

Everyone should try to visit a Hydrotherapy Pool, to see the immense pleasure which can be seen on the faces of users.  This is something which remains with you, makes you thankful to be pain free, and compassionate towards those who are not, and proud to be able to bring a little happiness to others.

What the participants of Highland Cross are doing is, to say the least, commendable. May they, with God’s help, and the support of the communities, keep up their good work.

Thank you for your involvement – it will make a difference!