A LIFE-SAVING organisation which provides emergency help to people living in a remote part of the Highlands has become the fourth winner of a cash giveaway.
The Strathglass First Responders are going to buy an emergency kit with money donated by the Loch Ness Rotary Club.
Since the group was set up seven years ago, the trained staff have given help to people who have suffered heart attacks and strokes, had broken bones and they have even attended a road traffic accident.
Each month in 2011, the rotary club, in association with the Highland News, has agreed to give hundreds of pounds to a local worthy cause.
Margaret Erskine, co-ordinator of the First Responders who already have a kit in Cannich, said she was delighted they had been chosen.
She told the Highland News: "This is great news, we are really, really pleased. This will mean that we can now put the money towards buying a second kit.
"We have a van with full kit in Cannich but it would be great to get some kit at Tomich as well.
"The kit will include a heart start machine, oxygen and a full first aid kit."
She added: "We cover the whole of the Strathglass area at the moment, but if we have one in Tomich as well, we will be able to respond quicker.
"It can take about 40 minutes for an ambulance to get out here because of the location, so we do provide a valuable service. This is a busy area, there are lots of tourists, so this money will make a really big difference."
Initially, the monthly giveaway was set at 200, but last week the Highland News told how the family and friends of an Inverness man who died suddenly have pledged money they have raised in his memory to the giveaway.
Shaun Scullion (20) died in 2006 from an aneurysm and since his death his friends Steven Corcoran and Jamie Kilpatrick have held an annual football tournament in his honour.
They have donated 900 to the Rotary Club, meaning each monthly giveaway will now be worth 300.
Roy McLennan, Loch Ness Rotary Club past president, said: "The members of the club are pleased to be awarding this month's 300 donation to the Strathglass First Responders to help and assist them to purchase new equipment.
"The judging panel felt that the voluntary work carried out by the Strathglass volunteers was very much in line with the way Rotary works both locally and around the world.
"They liked the fact the donation would be used by the First Responders to assist rural communities in such a way that it could save lives in the future.
"The club is delighted to select this very worthwhile group and wish them every success in the future. We hope our donation goes a small way to making a difference in the local communities served by the Strathglass First Responders."
l There is still time to get your entries in.
Groups, individuals and charities are invited to apply for one of the 300 monthly awards by visiting www.lochnessrotary.org/fundingapplications.asp
Entries will be invited each month and put forward for judging, and a lucky winner chosen and featured in the Highland News.
Those not chosen will go forward for consideration the following month, along with new entries.
