Ballater charity receives £750 donation

A Ballater-based based charity which helps children, young people and families living with a stoma has received a £750 donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation as part of its support for charities across the UK.

A bear named Buttony received a boost from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation.

A Bear Named Buttony received the donation after being nominated by a customer of the Aberdeen branch of the Society on Union Street.

The charity provides free resources to support children, young people and families living with a stoma. For children having stoma surgery, they gift a specially crafted bear with a stoma, a storybook and a colouring book. Young adults with a stoma receive a wash bag full of non-medical items to help adjust to life with a stoma. Recent initiatives include trialling stoma training models in paediatric centres and the imminent launch of educational packs for primary schools.

The £750 donation to A Bear Named Buttony will be used to provide stoma models to the team at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. The models will help children, young people, their families and carers as they prepare for stoma surgery. These models look and feel very realistic and will be provided in different skin tones and sizes.

Cheryl Hyland, Customer Consultant of Yorkshire Building Society in Aberdeen, said: “We are proud to be able to support A Bear Named Buttony in our community in Aberdeen with a donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. The work that they are doing to support children, young people and families living with a stoma is providing a real benefit to their lives.”

Helen Macfarlane, Trustee and Secretary, of A Bear Named Buttony said: “We are really thankful for the donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. This will help us to provide new resources to support children and young adults at an often worrying and uncertain time.”

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is funded through the Small Change Big Difference® scheme where members donate the pennies from the interest on their accounts just once a year to help smaller charities around the UK.

If you would like to support A Bear Named Buttony then please visit www.buttonybear.org.uk for further information.