Dear Catherine McEwan Foundation Family,

We hope you are all fit and healthy and remain so during these very difficult times.

As a charity, it’s important to us that you know that the Catherine McEwan Foundation is committed to all of our patients, families and health professionals and we aim to support you as much as possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We will continue to provide information, support and funding where possible to help you navigate these uncharted waters.

As you would expect, our events for the foreseeable future need to be rescheduled, but we would like to thank the many of you who had already signed up for Kiltwalk, It’s a Knockout and bought tickets for our Comedy Crohnies. All of these events will be back as soon as possible, hopefully bigger and better. We also hope to have you join us later in the year for our annual Tea Jenny, Santa Bungee and Drive In Movies, which are all hugely popular events. Fingers crossed!

Our most recent fundraiser and flagship event, the annual Red Hot Ball, had a record-breaking year, raising almost £80,000 – our highest ever total! It’s hard to describe the pride and gratitude we have regarding the amount of money that was pledged by you.

But the reality is that since the Ball on 7 March, many people’s financial situations have drastically changed. Some Catherine McEwan Foundation supporters have had to close businesses, others have lost their jobs and, for many of us, it’s a time of uncertainty that we’re now faced with. We understand though that putting food on the table and staying safe has to come first.

As a charity, we want to express our sincere thanks to those of you whom have honoured your donations and to those who still plan to in the future. For any individuals or organisations who cannot fulfil their commitments at the moment, we have no intention of adding any further, unnecessary pressure to your current financial situation. We wish you well and hope you can support us in the future.The Catherine McEwan Foundation will continue its important work throughout the lockdown and we would value any support our ‘family’ can offer to allow us to provide much-needed service and support to those suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland and our beloved NHS.

Over the coming days you will see new initiatives that we hope you can get involved in.

Most importantly though, we want you to stay at home, stay safe and stay healthy.

Kind regards,

Derek and all the team at the Catherine McEwan Foundation