April 13, 2010
The anonymous generous donors
You won’t find it in any fundraising manual, but just occasionally funds can appear as if from nowhere. The community shop in Uig on Lewis desperately needed a replacement refrigerated van to make home deliveries – one morning a brand new van with keys in ignition was found parked on the shop forecourt. And when Birse Community Trust had run out of options in their bid to buy an area of woodland which was key to their future sustainability, an 11th hour donation of a six figure sum saved the day
1. The mystery of the Uig van
Extract from Scottish Community Land Network website…..
…..nice to hear of the mystery purchase of a new van for the Uig community shop. The Uig shop on the Isle of Lewis uses a van to collect supplies from Stornoway and to deliver goods to customers. But their previous van was on its last legs, putting future deliveries and the community-run shop’s supplies at risk. Then, out of the blue, a mystery benefactor stepped in and purchased a lovely new refridgerated van for the shop. And before you ask, it wasn’t even an episode of the Secret Millionaire…….
2. The purchase of this woodland is the final piece in the jigsaw of Birse’s sustainability plan
Birse Community Trust had planned to buy Balfour Wood for years to complete the re-instatement of the three forests that used to belong to Birse parish on Deeside. When the Trust’s application to the Lottery was rejected, it seemed that BCT would not be able to buy the Wood before the purchase deadline passed. Then, with a week to go before the opportunity would be lost potentially forever, an anonymous benefactor step in with an incredibly generous donation to save the day. Members of the Trust have been surprised and delighted that they are able to buy the Wood at the 59th minute.……