CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, has been named the Official Charity of the 2016 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
CLIC Sargent provides clinical, practical, financial and emotional support to those who have been affected by cancer. From diagnosis onwards, the charity’s aim is to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement.
The appointment as Official Charity to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open is aimed at raising the profile of the Scottish branch of CLIC Sargent – whose Northern Irish equivalent was also the Official Charity of the Irish Open in 2012 – as well as raising funds for the charity.
The partnership will incorporate the ‘Birdies for Good’ initiative, meaning every birdie, eagle, albatross and hole in one made by the professionals over the four tournament days will generate donations to CLIC Sargent Scotland, thanks to the support of Aberdeen Asset Management and other subsidiary sponsors.
Peter Adams, Championship Director of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, said: “On behalf of the European Tour, we are delighted to welcome CLIC Sargent on board as the Official Charity of the 2016 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
“We are very keen to raise awareness of the great work this charity carries out locally in offering support to young people with cancer, and their families.
“We hope that substantial funds will be raised through the ‘Birdies for Good’ pledge and the other fundraising initiatives taking place during the week, which will play a small but important part in helping support children suffering from this terrible disease.”
Rachel Kirby-Rider, Director of Fundraising for CLIC Sargent, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as the Official Charity of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. When a child or young person is diagnosed with cancer it has a devastating impact on the whole family, and that’s why CLIC Sargent’s vital emotional, practical and financial support is so important.
“CLIC’s Sargent’s support includes frontline services, such as nurses and social care workers, and ‘Homes from Home’ located close to hospitals where young cancer patients receive treatment. We’re there from diagnosis onwards, but currently CLIC Sargent can only support two out of three young people diagnosed with cancer in the UK.
“The vital funds generated by this fantastic partnership will go towards our frontline services and Homes from Home service, including in Scotland where in 2015 we opened a new Home from Home in Glasgow, Marion’s House. We are also currently raising funds so that we can invest a further £1m in the coming years on a new Home from Home in Edinburgh, responding to the fact that the specialist cancer treatment hospitals for children in both cities are relocating.”
Lynda Affleck, Head of Charitable Giving at Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “It is with great delight that we are able to announce our support of CLIC Sargent for this year’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. We hope our support of ‘Birdies for Good’, as well as other initiatives associated with the event, will have a significant bearing on the lives of young people who are affected by cancer, and we are very pleased to be able to help in this way.”
CLIC Sargent was able to support the Inverness family of Ramsey Mercer when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011 at the age of five. The charity was able to provide free accommodation for the family at its Home from Home near Yorkhill Hospital, in Glasgow. Thankfully, Ramsey went into remission 16 months ago.
Ramsey’s mum, Adelle, said: “CLIC Sargent’s Home from Home made an amazing difference for us. It gave us somewhere to go outside of the hospital and saved us the travel, as well as being cosy and comfortable. Cancer treatment is such an upheaval for the whole family, so a place like this makes such a difference. We also had two CLIC Sargent Social Workers supporting us – at home in Inverness and in hospital in Glasgow. They helped us get the funding we needed, which really helped.”
