An Inverness mum and son hope that they will make Easter Sunday egg-stra special this year.
In memory of their grandma, and great-grandma, Chloe and Theo Woolley have donated enough money to hand over 100 Easter eggs to Highland Hospice.
Thanks to Chloe’s efforts – it is the second year she has been able to help.
She is urging people to support the charity by checking out its Amazon wishlist, or by raising money to support people the way her grandma was supported.
Chloe’s grandma, Hilary Johnstone who she describes as a “very special lady”, was cared for at the hospice in 2021.
Mrs Johnstone was 76 when she died, but until the very end, she loved her family and ‘the room lit up’ when she saw her visitors.
Now six years old, Theo remembers his great-grandma very fondly.
Chloe, 26, said: “Growing up we were a very close knit family, we were always with our grandparents and my mum’s side of the family.
“When I was pregnant with Theo, my grandma was the first person I told. She saw the best in everyone. She made sure that everyone was fine, and always helped people where she could.
Loving and generous
“She had a couple of different types of cancer over the years, and when she was diagnosed for the last time she went into the hospice for them to help manage her pain medication.
“She was there until she passed away in July 2021.”
Chloe, who works for an industrial supplies company, said she had even tried to bring forward her own wedding. She wanted her grandma to be her matron of honour – but it was not to be.
Mrs Johnstone helped Chloe prepare for the big day and even helped her choose her wedding dress.
But four days before the wedding, Mrs Johnstone died peacefully at the hospice, in the care of “the most loving and generous staff.”
“We could not fault the care, they were still under Covid restrictions but the staff went out of their way to help my grandma,” she said.
“They even stayed late to chat to her, when no one else was able to visit because of Covid.
“There was always someone there when you needed them. They do everything with grace, dignity and privately.
“I don’t know what we would do without Highland Hospice.”
‘We miss her every single day’
To say thanks to the staff, Chloe did the Baxters 10K to support Highland Hospice.
It is the second year she has done something at Easter for the charity.
She said: “I just wanted to encourage other people to raise money. Because when you do something it encourages other people to support you and your fundraising.
“My work and other businesses gave money, where otherwise they would not have had any reason to give anything to the hospice.
“I want to encourage as many people to get involved in whatever way they can to help raise money for charity.”
She continued: “I think my grannie would have been delighted and mortified at her picture being in the paper, but it is just lovely to talk about her and see her.
“We miss her every single day – she was a large part of all our lives.”
Highland Hospice has prepared a guide to buying an item from its Amazon wishlist that can be found by clicking here.
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