Fife vocal concert group raise over £3000 for hospital renal unit

Kirkcaldy’s Old Kirk was the venue for the fundraising concert, entitled Bernstein and Sondheim – Tonight, on Friday.

Ensemble director, Rosemary Nairne, a dialysis patient herself, presented a cheque for £3200 to the team from the department during the interval.

She said: “When we first planned the concert we hoped to be able to hand over a few hundred pounds to the unit but the support from the public has been amazing and exceeded all our expectations.

"We had an audience of almost 200 who not only bought tickets but supported our raffle and then made further donations.

"We also received several hundred pounds in donations from people who were unable to attend the concert.

"My friends in Ensemble decided that Ensemble should cover the costs for the concert so every penny raised went directly to the unit. It is an evening that none of us will ever forget.”

Maggie Wansell, senior charge nurse at the Renal Outpatients Department was joined by Isobel Lowden, specialist nurse, to accept the cheque on behalf of the unit.

Maggie gave a brief description of a dialysis patient’s experiences during the concert.

Speaking afterwards she said: “I would like to express my huge thanks to all involved in Ensemble for their very generous donation to NHS Fife’s Renal Outpatient Unit. Life on dialysis three times per week for about four to five hours is gruelling and monotonous.

"We plan to organise a patient ‘suggestion box’ for how best the funds donated could be used for the patients’ benefit.”