Church’s fundraising success

An Edinburgh church has raised £10,000 for Blood Cancer UK as part of their annual charitable efforts.

Blackhall St Columba’s presented a cheque to the charity during a service on Sunday January 26. The entire amount raised by the congregation since they began supporting a different charity each year in 1992 is now £284,076.

Lynn Bunney, from the congregation’s WATCH committee which oversees the initiative, said: “WATCH stands for Working All Together Caring and Helping Through the Cross.

“We had a coin collection in the sanctuary through July and August, we also asked our congregation to send us a photo and we chose the 12 most photogenic pets and produced a calendar for 2025 which we sold at the coffee morning and fair, then we had our annual craft coffee morning in October and our Christmas fair in early December.”

Mairead Macleod, Blood Cancer UK’s, Scotland fundraising manager, said: “Sadly every year blood cancer takes 16,000 lives away from us a year right here in the UK, making it the country’s third largest cancer killer. Every diagnosis of a leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma can cause pain for loved ones, but there is hope. Research has helped drastically improve survival outcomes for many different forms of blood cancer, and thanks to fundraisers in Scotland like the WATCH Committee, we’re able to invest into more research, which will help beat blood cancer for good.”

The Rev Fergus Cook, minister of Blackhall St Columba’s, said: “The WATCH Committee do an absolutely fantastic job of organising a number of events and activities that raise funds for their chosen charity each year. Both the commitment of the committee and the enthusiasm and generosity of the congregation never ceases to amaze me when it comes to expressing God’s love for others through practical means that benefit the wider community.”