'Glow Gold': Buckie community raise childhood cancer awareness
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MEMBERS of the Buckie community banded together last month for Glow Gold September to raise awareness of childhood cancer.
Over £3500 was raised for Grampian children's cancer charity Calico as part of the campaign.
Buckie resident Gemma Dickie, who was instrumental to the fundraising, also placed a gold bike in Cluny Square to honour her daughter who lost her life to cancer.
She was pleased to see many local businesses take part in the campaign by making their display windows gold for the month.
"We were totally blown away by the community efforts," Gemma said.
"My main goal for the month was really to raise awareness. We didn't know the signs and symptoms of it. If by doing this month we help even just one family with early diagnosis then that's exactly what we want it to be about.
"The only other thing I can say is that myself and my family can't thank the local community enough. I hope to continue glowing gold annually, starting with next September."
Zen Ink Body Art, Buckie Community Charity Shop and Be So Crafty all contributed significant sums for the fundraiser. Two families who had recently lost loved ones also asked for money to be donated to the charity via Buckie Community Charity Shop.
There is already a gold bike in honour of Gemma's daughter in Aberdeen which has been there since 2019, but this year she wanted to place one closer to home.
"It was this year I thought that it would be nice to place one in Buckie to raise awareness," Gemma said.
"You know childhood cancer is a taboo subject. People don't like talking about it because you just never imagine it's going to happen to you. Knowing the early symptoms can actually be the difference between life or death. That's really why I wanted to do Glow Gold in Buckie."
The aim of the campaign is to make the colour gold synonymous with childhood cancer during awareness month much like the pink ribbon representing breast cancer.
There are currently around 19 gold bikes in Aberdeen alone - each one representing a child that has lost their life to cancer.
Campaigners nominate the charity of their choice for all donations. This year Gemma chose Calico which has been in existence since 1983.
Calico help families with the financial issues that come with a cancer diagnosis. They cover the entirety of the North East and Highland region and operate entirely through the work of volunteers.
Calico Committee member, Karen Arnold, said: "The fundraising coming down from Buckie has been amazing. It's quite a tight knit community and Gemma really got a lot of people on board.
"When we went up we saw that a lot of the shops had done their windows up in gold. It was just phenomenal what has been done in Buckie this year.
"All the money we get in goes to help families so we are extremely grateful to Gemma and the wider Buckie community."
