Fundraising drive really measures up

A "MEMORY mile" is to be created on Portobello Promenade to raise funds for a children's bereavement charity.

Richmond's Hope is inviting people to decorate a yardstick in memory of someone who has died, and hopes enough will be completed to extend for a mile along the prom when placed end to end - 1760 in all.

Each wooden yardstick will have a groove in the top just large enough to hold pound coins, and organisers hope that each will be returned not only decorated, but holding 40 coins to help meet the charity's running costs.

Jessie Douglas, chair of the board of directors and co-founder of Richmond's Hope, said: "I was sitting thinking about the project and how we could raise more money and originally I thought about a mile of pound coins along Portobello Promenade and then I though 'Don't be so stupid Jessie, as soon as you're putting them down someone else will come along and pick them up!' So we came up with the idea of the stick with pound coins and each stick will be personalised."

The charity, based in Niddrie Mains Road, helps children understand and cope with bereavement through play, and offers advice to families in the wake of a death.

Mrs Douglas said: "We're hoping that each child that attends Richmond's Hope or has been to Richmond's Hope in the past will get a stick and decorate it.

"A lot of the work that we do is working on memories - we have a memory tree and they make memory boxes - and then we thought 'We'll need more people than that,' so we thought we would encourage everybody to take a stick and remember somebody they knew that had died."

After they have been returned to Richmond's Hope and the pound coins safely collected, the sticks will be laid along the Promenade on May 28 next year. While it will be a day for memorial, it is also hoped to be an enjoyable event, with a brass band and dancing.

The charity's Kelley Scoular said: "A lot of families don't have a lot of money so from now until May gives them the chance to save 40. The target to raise is 70,000 but obviously if a family can only manage 10 or 20 that's fine. The whole purpose is that people can walk along once the sticks are down and remember people that have died.

"Because the stick is plain wood it will take any paint, you can decorate it however you like, you can put stickers on it, leave it blank and write on it with markers - it's about getting people together to remember the person."

For more information on the memory mile, or if you know a child you think would benefit from Richmond's Hope's help, call 0131_661 6818 or e-mail [email protected].