Closure blow sparks 'brilliant' donation swansong
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A HUNTLY charity has bowed out after decades of service with a donation to two groups.
Friends of Huntly Day Care for the Elderly helped operate the town's day care centre for over 30 years.
The charity provided outings, activities and company to the centre's members.
However Aberdeenshire Council, which funded the service's sole staff member, has decided not to bring it back after Covid.
As a result of the closure and a lack of committee members, the Friends have decided to wind up their work and pass on the cash to the Huntly Community Minibus and Friends of Jubilee Hospital.
Aileen Ogg, the final daycare coordinator, handed over flowers to the remaining two committee members of the Friends.
Representatives from the Huntly Community Minibus and Friends of Jubilee Hospital were handed the cheques, of over £1000 each, at the Bank Café and Restaurant.
Eleanor Farquhar was the Treasurer of the Friends of Huntly Day Care for 25 years.
"Aberdeenshire Council gave us the go-ahead to distribute the funds because they don't think it'll open up again in Huntly," she said.
"It's a shame. It's another blow to Huntly really, isn't it?
"It's just a pity. You see folks referring to it as a ghost town, with shops closing.
"And there are bound to be lots of elderly, lonely people in Huntly that never see anybody from one day to the next."
Money for the Friends' work was raised through a host of ways, including coffee mornings and the sale of member-made crafts.
When the daycare was going strong, Ms Farquhar said, it provided the elderly population with a full, free day of outings, activities, lunches and social opportunities that kept them "well entertained and well occupied".
The service started in the Linden Center over 30 years ago, before moving to the Business Centre and finally the Stewart's Hall.
Ms Farquhar said it was important the community knew where the Friends' money had gone.
"We decided that, since the funds were raised in Huntly, they should be distributed in Huntly for the good of the people of Huntly," she said.
"Everything came from Huntly folk and members' families, so we wanted everybody to know where their money has gone."
Debbie Haefner, the coordinator of the Huntly Community Minibus, said the Friends' donation would let them continue providing their essential transport service.
She said: "It was just brilliant that they were thinking of the bus in this situation.
"We did a lot of bookings for the daycare centre when it was going strong.
"We picked up a lot of the folk, dropped them off and took them home again.
"Without that service there will be a lot of folks missing out.
"It's a shame that it's folding, but it was good that they thought of us to give the money to, that was brilliant."
Ms Farquhar also said that providing the other half of the windfall to the Friends of Jubilee Hospital was a natural choice, since the hospital touches the lives of the entire community.
She said: "The Friends of Jubilee Hospital pump a lot of money into the hospital.
"They do so much for the hospital and hopefully with Rothieden being refurbished, it will keep the hospital growing and keep something in Huntly.
"We agreed that a lot of Huntly people will get use of the hospital at some point in their lives."
The largest part of the end of Day Care, according to Ms Farquhar, was the short notice closure of the Day Care after decades serving the community.
"It was just a combination of things, but Covid put the final nail in the coffin, which I think has done for a lot of things," she said.
"Also, most of committee and those involved are deceased now, I'm afraid.
"Even Mrs McWilliam, who was at the handover, is in her 90s.
"We asked her, when we met last week, how long the daycare had been going in Huntly.
"She said she started volunteering when she retired, we think, at 60.
"And she's now 93."
Despite the winding down of the Friends Ms Farquhar hopes new regeneration works in Huntly, including the No 30 The Square project, will provide fresh hope for community groups.
"Here's hoping things will pick up again," she said.
