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Boat of Garten ladies bare neccesities to rake in cancer funds!





Lorraine MacPherson, Janet Hartree and Jean Gordon hand over the cheque to the charity
Lorraine MacPherson, Janet Hartree and Jean Gordon hand over the cheque to the charity

A strath amateur dramatics group has presented Maggie’s Highlands with a cheque for almost £17,000.

The Showboaters, from Boat of Garten, raised the funds through a recent run of ‘Calendar Girls’.

The show was especially moving given that four of the group’s members either have cancer or have been affected by it over the last 18 months.

Showboaters spokeswoman Lorraine MacPherson, who suffers from lung cancer, explained the cancer care centre by Raigmore Hospital in Inverness got more than it was hoping for.

She said: "Maggie’s were just delighted because our target had been £10,000 and we exceeded that. It’s an amazing amount for a small community.

"It was so well supported by not just the community here, but from round about as well.

"The tickets sold out really quickly. We were originally just going to do it for four nights, but we had to put a fifth night on."

She added: "We were wonderfully supported by local businesses and completely overwhelmed by the community spirit which was created. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all concerned, and especially to the cast and crew, for whom it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster."

Amazingly, despite undergoing treatment the very week of the show, Lorraine (55) managed to introduce ‘Calendar Girls’ every night during the run at the end of February.

Daughter Emma Macdonald (33), who played Ruth in the show, was proud of her brave mum.

She said: "It was pretty emotional, to be honest. She had radiotherapy that week, but she was still there introducing it. That whole time she was keeping us going, she was the one who was ill, but we were just on stage really.

"It was a funny play and it was sad. It was mixed emotions during the rehearsals and during the week it was on."


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