Kingussie has no shortage of ideas for former St Vincent’s Hospital bequest
The team handling the Burall Bequest to Kingussie’s former St Vincent’s Hospital have told a public meeting that there is still £306,000 in the pot.
A good turnout at the Iona Gallery this morning heard details from the organisers of the meeting, the Highland Health Board Endowment Funds Charity, who are responsible for administering the fund.
The late Theresa Burall of Seattle left a £330k fortune to the Badenoch hospital as a thank you for the excellent service it had given to friends.
Today’s meeting, which followed another successful get-together at Aviemore’s Hub, brought together local campaigners who for some time have been desperate for information on the fund and health improvement officials who wanted to hear just what the community felt the residue of the fund should be spent on.
After a brief welcome from Catherine Myles of the endowment funds charity and Dan Jenkins, local senior health improvement specialist, the meeting split up into groups who offered ideas and discussed them with the health officers.
“It’s good to see this taking place at last” said one of the local campaigners, Ian Moffett, “but we will always been concerned and a little baffled at how the target area of the donation was stretched to include Strathspey by OSCR, the charity regulators, without consulting the general public.
“This money was expressly intended for Badenoch and we trust that that’s where the bulk of it will end up, eventually.”
A survey asking for specific ideas on the use of the money - be it mental health, community health, physio facilities for sport, care of the elderly etc. - will carry on until tomorrow.
But Mr Jenkins said even after the ‘deadline’ of the survey - already 100-plus responses have been lodged from Badenoch and Strathspey contributors - more ideas would be considered on a ‘post-it’ basis.
The board trustees will meet on September 1st to take the issue further after considering all the responses.
