A Moray hairdressing salon is staging a fundraising morning to highlight the appeal for a local toddler battling cancer.
Hairdressers at Elgin’s LCTG salon are donating every tip made this week to a fund set up to send Forres toddler Eileidh Paterson to America for potentially lifesaving treatment.
Eileidh’s mum, Gail Paterson, launched a desperate appeal to raise £100,000 to pay for the trip less than two months ago, and she is now within touching distance of the total.
Following a donation of £20,000 last week from a mystery benefactor, the tally is now around the £90,000 mark.
Noting that the campaign was nearing its goal, the hairdressing salon decided to do all it could to ensure Eileidh made it to America.
The salon’s co-manager, Penny Kelly, said: “A lot of our staff have been keeping up with Eileidh’s appeal online, and have all become quite invested in it.
“Knowing that Eileidh is now only a wee bit away from the target, one of our senior stylists – Lori Duffus – suggested we do something to give it an extra push.
“Every tip each of the staff have received this week is going towards the campaign, and tomorrow morning the girls are coming in on their own time for a fundraising morning.”
From 11am LCTG will be offering a cut and blow dry for £30, with all proceeds going to the campaign.
Eileidh Paterson, three, was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma – an aggressive form of childhood cancer which causes tumours to spread throughout the body – last May.
The Forres toddler finished the last of her immunotherapy treatments on Sunday evening, but her condition carries a relapse rate of up to 80%.
If Ms Paterson manages to raise her target sum Eileidh will next month embark on a pioneering treatment programme using drugs currently unavailable in the UK, which should decrease the chance of the cancer coming back.