Donation to Barra Cancer Support Group

Donation to Barra Cancer Support Group
We decided rather than taking part in Black Friday deals this year we would like to do something to help our community. We chose to take part in the Giving Tuesday campaign.
From Thursday 25th November to Tuesday 30th November, every bottle of Barra Atlantic Gin we sold, we donate £12 of that purchase to a charity close to our heart, Barra Cancer Support Group.
Barra Cancer Group provides a variety of valuable local services including support and wellbeing for people affected by cancer on the Isle of Barra. A cancer diagnosis is a traumatic and life-changing event, not just for the patient, but also for their family. Coping with cancer is hard, so Barra Cancer Group is there to make that journey a little easier.
 
Isa MacLean, the Chairperson for Barra Cancer Support Group has said;
“Following a successful Breast Cancer awareness event in 2012 and through discussion with members of our community whose lives had been touch by cancer, it became clear that there was a real need for a local cancer support group to be set up; this led to the formation of the Barra Cancer Support Group in early 2013.
The Group is a peer lead support group providing a safe space for peers to meet other members of our community facing similar struggles. At our monthly meetings the support group provides support and encouragement which can help rebuild a person’s self-confidence, allows patients and families to become more informed about all aspects of the cancer journey and often allows a person to gain back some control over their own life which following the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis is often stripped away from them.
We have worked with charities such as Maggie’s centre; Prostate Cancer UK; WICCI; MacMillan; Look Good Feel Better and have been supported by local groups such as the Barrathon, the Fishing Competition, The Clampits to name a few. We have also been supported over the years by local businesses and the wider community.  Prior to the pandemic, we held an annual coffee morning as a way of saying thank you to our wonderful community and to allow them to catch up with our news. We held an annual ‘Twilight Walk’ to come together as a community and support each other, reflecting on our lives over the previous year.
The Barra Cancer Support Group has now built up a wider network of support, we work with therapists, counsellors and charities to provide a broader spectrum of support to our local community. We have strong links with the local Macmillan and Nursing teams and we have, over the years, donated equipment and other items utilised in the care of Cancer and Palliative care patients. Several years ago, we set up a fund for members of the community diagnosed with cancer. Initially, we were able to gift £100 to individuals this has now increased to £250 which helps in a small way to lighten the burden that comes with a cancer diagnosis.
The last few years have seen a reduction in our capacity to fundraise, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the number of cancer diagnoses. Over the past 14 months, the BCSG has donated £7474.12 back into the local community in the form of monetary gifts, equipment and specialist support to cancer patients and their families. Every single penny we received is directed back into the community of Barra & Vatersay.
This extremely generous donation from the Isle of Barra Distillery team will help us continue to support the community of Barra & Vatersay in any way we can. As important as the donation is to our support group, the kindness and compassion demonstrated by the Distillery team’s gesture is humbling and highlights the value of supporting each other, whether it is a business supporting the community group or a group supporting an individual, this to us is Barra at its finest and we are very proud to be part of this wonderful community.”
Katie Morrison our Co-Founder/Director said;
"We're completely overwhelmed by the response and support received for our Giving Tuesday pledge. Along with our own contribution, we are delighted to announce that the amount raised for Barra Cancer Support is £2,500. This group was chosen with sentimental value and is one that is very close to my heart personally, as from my own personal experience of losing a loved one to cancer, my family and I were grateful for the immediate support we received from Barra Cancer Support at that time. We are in awe of the incredible work this charity offers us and our fellow Islanders and hope this contribution will help people, in the way that it helped us."
A massive thank you to everyone who bought one of our Giving Tuesday Bottles of Barra Atlantic Gin. 

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