Friends and family of Overtown pharmacist Eilidh McHugh celebrated what would have been her 25th birthday with a special white Ladies’ Lunch which raised over £17,000.
Every year on her birthday, Eilidh’s loved ones organise ‘a white day’ for Eilidh’s Beatson Fund – which now stands at £264,000.
Eilidh passed away in March 2017, after a short battle with cancer.
This year, the Bothwell Bridge Hotel was the venue for a jam-packed line-up of auctions, gin tasting singers and a special surprise from Eilidh’s mum Elaine.
When she was a teenager Elaine was a ballroom dancer, and absolutely loved it, and shared her love for it with her daughters Kerry and Eilidh.
Elaine said: “Dancing was something Eilidh, Kerry and I loved to do. Every Saturday night we would dance around the living room to Strictly Come Dancing – it was our party piece.
“When Eilidh passed away I couldn’t bare to dance. It was our thing, but you are not the person you were before and you are not as carefree as you used to be. Kerry would always say to me when we were at events, ‘Mum come up and dance,’ and I just couldn’t possibly.”
After a bit of persuasion, Elaine only told a few people about her plan to perform at Eilidh’s Lunch with professional Bobby Cranston.
She said: “I knew if I was going to do this, I was going to do it for something special and it was at Eilidh’s Lunch, for a brachytherapy room in Eilidh’s name. Brachytherapy is the delivery of internal radiotherapy and is the standard treatment for cervical and endometrial cancers.”
Team Eilidh want to create a brighter, more cheerful, less clinical environment for women in this situation. Elaine added: “Thank you very much to everyone in Team Eilidh for making Eilidh’s Lunch possible.
“A special To Mick and Kerry, thanks to Martin Cawley and Morag Cunningham of the Beatson. Also, thanks go to Julie Boswell and the Retronix team, Ian McWilliam for donating the Fly Beatson board, and Angie Clifford for the bracelets.
“And thank you to everyone else who made this day so special.”
