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Oxygen Works charity aims to raise £30,000 to mark 30th anniversary as it fights back from Covid

Staff members (L-R) Shena Finlay, Leigh-Ann Little, chief executive, Jenni Donnelly, Grahame MacDonald and Nichola Douglas at the oxygen chamber
Staff members (L-R) Shena Finlay, Leigh-Ann Little, chief executive, Jenni Donnelly, Grahame MacDonald and Nichola Douglas at the oxygen chamber

Like the people it strives to help, The Oxygen Works is never short of challenges or hope of finding new ways to get better.

The Inverness-based charity is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is looking to adapt to life after the pandemic that significantly affected its work.

It’s Open Week started on Monday and today sees the launch of its ‘£30,000 for 30’ fundraising campaign, exactly three decades after the organisation started.

Activities will be peppered throughout the year, aiming to culminate in a black tie event towards the end of the anniversary year.

Charity affected by Covid

Covid not only forced the closure of The Oxygen Works’ base for long periods during 2020 and 2021.

It also halted many fundraising events which cut off a vital supply of income for the charity which costs £250,000 a year to run.

With no statutory funding, 40% of its finance comes from fundraising and outside donations.

An ongoing legacy has been an unprecedented level of cancellations from clients who are not ready to venture into the new normal.

Oxygen Works staff (L-R) Jenni Donnelly, Shena Finlay, Nichola Douglas, Grahame MacDonald, June Maclennan and Leigh-Ann Little. Picture by Sandy McCook

However, growing numbers of people with Long Covid, or post-vaccination complications, are turning to oxygen therapy for help.

Around 75-80% of new inquiries to the charity are now Covid-related, which has meant The Oxygen Works adjusting to new circumstances.

But being agile and resilient is nothing new for the charity which has come through a near collapse, a major re-brand and a devastating flood in its 30 years.

As its new strategic priorities document for the next five years points out “We consider The Oxygen Works as an ecosystem; a living, breathing and evolving entity that has and will continue to undertake various life cycles”.

Purpose-built centre opened in 1992

The charity, previously the MS Therapy Centre, emerged from a campaign started in 1989 by a small group of people living with multiple sclerosis.

By March 31, 1992 a purpose-built centre opened in Burnett Road housing what is still the only oxygen chamber serving the central Highlands.

People with MS continue to make up around 40% of the client base.

But staff also help with a variety of other conditions including cancer, Parkinson’s and diabetes.

As well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the centre provides physical wellbeing , massage and reflexology treatments.

Oxygen Works chief executive Leigh-Ann Little.

The Oxygen Works sees itself as having a significant role to play with more than one million people in Scotland living with a neurological condition.

The Highlands also has the highest incidence of MS in the world, with 292 sufferers per 100,000.

The charity’s own health has been mixed. It avoided a financial collapse in 2008 and developed its client base after re-branding in 2017.   

Pre-lockdown it had around 600 clients from across the Highlands, Aberdeen, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides.

But, like most places, it had to close in March 2020, opening only periodically as restrictions allowed.

Flood forced charity to close

It was due to re-open in February last year but a major flood forced the doors to remain closed for more than nine months.

Chief executive Leigh-Ann Little says coming back from the brink after lockdown and then the flood, demonstrates the charity’s agility and durability.

“Covid arguably gave us a resilience that we didn’t know we had to get through something like that.”

But it now has a challenge to re-engage with people and attract new members.

“Engagement feels different as we’ve never had so many cancellations”, said Leigh-Ann.

“We are looking at things with new eyes.

“We have to respect people who opt to stay away for now. But it makes it hard for us to plan, how we organise staffing and how we grow.”

The oxygen chamber arrives at Inverness Harbour in 1992.

Centre operations manager Jenni Donnelly added: “It’s a balancing act. A lot of people want the social side of the centre to come back, but we have to do it in a safe way.”

A return of fundraising events will help stabilise the charity which subsidises services while asking members to pay a contribution towards treatment.

It makes it an attractive option when commercial oxygen therapy centres can charge from £75-£250 for a single session.

Leigh-Ann says in attracting members The Oxygen Works needs to demonstrate its value: “It’s never going to be about reaching a commercial level of turnover.

“It’s not about saying it costs us £250,000 a year to run the place, so divide that across the number of sessions to decide what we need to charge.

Services should be accessible and affordable

“We’ve always had a mindset that we want the centre to remain accessible and affordable to people and subsidise those who cannot access services.

“However, we really have to start getting more confident about saying we provide a really valuable service to the community.

“Therefore, it’s fair to encourage a donation of x amount for you to utilise this.”

The charity is also keen to work with other organisations to improve support for clients.

It has been exploring partnership opportunities with Men’s Shed which they hope will lead to a project on the centre’s garden and used as a trigger to encourage men to talk about health issues.

Users of the centre, formerly the MS Therapy Centre, around 2006

It is also working on fundraising with the brain injury charity Headway Highland and on physiotherapy and rehabilitation with move4ward.

“Rather than looking for funding to bring services in-house, we can work with people already providing those services to get the best solutions for the community”, said Leigh-Ann.

“This is about reviewing and looking at things through a different lens with a view of securing the next 30 years and beyond for the organisation.”

New building is long-term ambition

A longer term ambition is to open a new building, with a site on the Inverness Campus earmarked.

“It’s not going to happen in the next few years but it’s very much on the agenda”, Leigh-Ann said.

“There is, of course, the small matter of funding and it doesn’t feel right to push the button on that yet.

“It’s not just an ambition but a community need. We cannot achieve everything the community needs through the existing building.”