2023-12-11T16:46:03+00:00

Review of 2023

It’s been quite a year for Friends of Roxburghe House and we wanted to take some time to thank everyone who supported us during 2023.

And everyone has been amazingly generous with their support. We had 71 folks undertake the KiltWalk in Aberdeen and Edinburgh. We had other walkers, runners, cyclists, Beast racers, skydivers, football and rugby games and bakers among many other things.

A vintage tractor was auctioned on our behalf. And Lyric Musical Society chose us as their charity partner for their production of Kinky Boots.

We’ve covered much of this on the website and on our social media channels but here is some of the activity we’ve been delighted to see throughout the year...

A huge transformation was the new look for the coffee bar and reception area, overseen by senior charge nurse Fiona Weir and funded by Friends. Two new chair beds have also been purchased for use in the ward.

The warm weather of summer seems a distant memory, but there was definitely sunshine.

During the summer months, an ice-cream van made a visit and folks were treated to an ice-cream. Strawberries and cream were also provided during Wimbledon.

There was live footage from the Roxburghe House birdboxcam with five hungry blue tit mouths and probably quite a harassed parent. Amazing to watch, and thank you once again to our ArtRoom friends who filmed the feed. It is a great facility, funded by Friends, to allow visitors and patients to enjoy a bit of nature from the comfort of indoors. Roxburghe House is all about living, and one of the things Friends do is provide those important little extras that make a difference.

Our ArtRoom friends were also behind sightings of Roxie the fox, fond of a saunter round Roxburghe House gardens and not camera-shy at all.

In August, almost 50 folks joined us in the Celebrate Aberdeen Parade. The sun shone and it was an amazing atmosphere, described as “like Notting Hill” by one participant. Thank you to those who joined us, hopefully we can encourage some more folks to join with us next year.

There were plenty of green fingers at Roxburghe House, not least with the greenhouse harvest. It was Roseann’s Roxburghe House Harvest, with produce from the greenhouse and raised beds given out to day unit patents, from tomatoes, strawberries to cucumbers. Day unit users have also had the opportunity to get their hands in the soil during their 12-week programme, alongside Roseann.

Come the autumn, our focus turned to the outdoors and fixing the pond in the garden.

Not only had the pond in Roxburghe House become a bit of an algae eyesore, but it had become unsafe. The dangerous bridge had been fenced off, and the standing water began to cause concern on health grounds.

It was agreed that the pond should be removed and the area turfed over to allow a blank canvas for future development. So we sprang into action: it has now been drained, cleared and dug out before being back-filled and turfed over.

It makes such a difference to the gardens and is money well spent for Friends. Thanks to Robertson Group for their digger muscle and we look forward to seeing everyone enjoying the new green space in the seasons ahead.

Elsewhere in the garden, our remarkable garden volunteers were busy throughout the year and kept us updated on social channels with gorgeous pictures of what they’ve been doing – a particular thank you to Anne Beveridge for her help with that.

They don’t stop at weeding and pruning. They've been known to turn their hand to some repair and rejuvenation. A triumph was the toadstool transformation…

And in August, they got reinforcements, when Sam brought his rugby chums to help as 20 bags of bark were delivered and needed spreading over the gardens.

It was a busy day but left the gardens looking (even more) beautiful. Thanks to everyone who helped out there.

Our Roxburghe House garden bird tables also got a refurbishment, just in time for our feathered friends to take advantage of them through the winter.

The bird tables play such an important part in the Roxburghe House garden so when Bill Craigie - our dedicated "Bird Man" - noticed they were all needing a bit of tender loving care, he organised the refurbishment. Westhill and District Men’s Shed carried out the work and Friends were more than happy to cover the costs.

Here’s to some happy birdies over this winter.

And finally, we were nominated for the P&J275 Community Fund in November, which was a public vote for four charities to get the backing of the Press & Journal. Although we were ultimately unsuccessful, it was great to see everyone supporting us.

Huge thank you to volunteers Anne, Gordon and Anne for agreeing to speak to The Press and Journal for their feature about volunteering with Friends.

Again, a heartfelt thank you to everyone at Friends for all your support. Please stay tuned for more news of how we’re helping the Roxburghe House team and how you can get involved.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

What's going on