OT Society team up with Age Scotland for Virtual Kiltwalk
The Common Good is well and truly shining through GCU Students’ Association’s Occupational Therapy (OT) Society, who are doing their bit to benefit the world around them by raising over £700 for charity.
Well known for supporting students and staff alike, the society have extended their compassion far beyond the University campus over the last year. This month some of their dedicated members will be taking part in Scotland’s Kiltwalk in order to raise money for Age Scotland.
The Kiltwalk is a mass participation event that raises funds for charities and projects across Scotland. This year the event is taking place virtually between 23-25 April, with participants encouraged to get involved in whichever way possible. It’s also hoped a LIVE event will take place later this year, once restrictions are eased.
Fourth year student and OT Society vice president, Nora Dempsey described the inspiration behind getting involved.
She said: “When we contacted Age Scotland at the start of the year, they actually tied us in to one specific area of fundraising. Any money we raise is going towards friendship phone calls for older isolated individuals – it’s a great cause.
To support this, we decided to get involved with the virtual Kiltwalk this year. We’re now well underway with sponsorship and our four committee members taking part have already raised £375.”
Nora added: “It would be great to see others at GCU getting involved with us. You don’t need to do the full 20 mile walk that’s normally expected, and any money you raise will be given to Age Scotland via the OT Society.”
The society also took advantage of the buzz around the virtual world earlier on in the academic year, when they kick-started their fundraising for the charity.
Nora said: “We were a bit concerned originally because we obviously had to take everything online and were worried we might take a hit in our total raised.
We hosted a quiz but our main thing was online speaker events - where we had ten different qualified occupational therapists come and discuss their specialisms and job roles. We gave students the opportunity to purchase a free ticket due to how tough a time it’s been for everyone financially. There was also the option to donate £1, £3 or £5 to Age Scotland.
Last term we raised £350 through these online events and now we’re continuing to boost the total amount raised through the virtual Kiltwalk.”
Having already reached £725 this academic year, the society have repaid some of the hard-work shown by their members – by providing them with an inspiring development opportunity.
Nora explained: “Like a lot of other societies, after our membership money and the money the Students’ Association gave us, we actually had than we normally have this year because we couldn’t hold events on campus.
We decided to use some of this to run an introduction to Makaton, which is a type of sign language used with preverbal children and those with learning disabilities. One of our members had got involved previously and found it really beneficial - so we wanted to give others the opportunity.
Originally, 11 of us went and it was such a success that we decided to fund another session. There’s now a total of 22 of members that have been able to access this training, which we hope will benefit them in future!”
You can donate to Age Scotland through the OT Society’s Kiltwalk page.
By Ross Clark
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