Highland distillery staff choose charity of the year
Employees of Scotch whisky producer Chivas Brothers have chosen the Scottish Network for Arthritis in Children (SNAC) as their Charity of the Year for 2015.
The organisation was chosen by employees at the company’s Speyside and Orkney sites. The company has donated £5,000 to the charity.
SNAC was set up by parents of children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Its objective is to provide a national support network for children with arthritis and their families through the provision of factual, practical and emotional support. It aims to pull together the wider community of affected children in Scotland as well as raise public awareness of JIA.
Charities of the Year are nominated by employees, before a shortlist is created and voting takes place. SNAC holds a special place in the heart of employee Willie Templeton from the company’s Mulben warehouses in Keith.
He explained: “Two years ago when my son Kylan was diagnosed with JIA we were looking for more information about the condition and found out about SNAC. The parent information days, family weekend and activity days have been invaluable for our family.
“As SNAC is run voluntarily by parents and relies on fundraising and donations, I nominated them for Charity of the Year never imagining for a minute that we would be successful. When I found out we had won I was absolutely delighted and couldn’t wait to thank my colleagues who had voted.”
Michael Kent, Chairman of SNAC, said: “We are delighted to be chosen as Chivas Brothers’ charity partner for the next year and the £5,000 donation is a great boost help to us to fund further support to those affected by JIA.
“We are hugely grateful to everyone who supports us in whatever way they can to improve the experiences of children with JIA. The relationship with the clinical teams is as strong today as ever and SNAC work closely with SPARN (Scottish Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Network). We also work closely with other similar charities throughout the UK and Ireland and represent children with Arthritis on various clinical and government committees.”
Jennie Norrish, Head of Communications at Chivas Brothers, added: “I’m delighted our employees in Speyside and Orkney have decided to support SNAC in 2015. The charity raises awareness of a condition that affects one in every thousand children under 16, yet many people are not even aware children can develop arthritis. I hope our donation helps them continue their important work, and we look forward to working with them throughout the year.”
