A mother and son who work at SSE have rallied colleagues to help raise £1,500 for a Scottish charity dedicated to helping people living with Multiple Sclerosis.
Joyce Gray-McDonald, who was diagnosed with MS five years ago, and her son Ryan Moon, enlisted the help of their SSE colleagues to raise the cash for MS Society Scotland by carrying out various fundraising activities, including raffles, silent auctions and cake sales.
Scotland has one of the highest incidences of MS in the world and the MS Society Scotland campaigns to make it a priority at a political level as well as provide support and information to people affected.
Joyce, who has worked at SSE in Perth for 11 years, explains why she and her son decided to fundraise for the charity. She said: “It was originally my son’s idea. The charity has provided us with so much help over the years we wanted to give something back, so we decided to raise awareness of the condition as well as money to help other people living with MS across Scotland.
“Both my son and I are really pleased with the amount raised. The support we received from colleagues at SSE was fantastic; we even had a male colleague go through the pain of getting his chest hairs waxed in a bid to increase funds.
“MS Society Scotland helps my family and I to have a positive attitude towards the condition and I’m delighted that the money will help ensure the charity continues to do great work.”
The £1,500 raised will go towards grants to help people with MS purchase mobility scooters and other assistance aids that can help them better cope with fatigue and weakness.
SSE was also able to provide top-up funding of £200 towards the project through its ‘Be the difference’ scheme that encourages employees to help raise funds or lend a hand for a project in the local community.