Lynne McNicoll

On Friday 16th August, Laura and I went to visit Its Good 2 Give’s lovely Lynne McNicoll at the spectacular Ripple Retreat.

When Lynne first began fundraising at the age of 49, she had no idea where it was going to take her. A year later, she had raised over £54,000. Discovering a talent for networking and organising events along the way. Enlisting the help of the East of Scotland community, Lynne raised over £650,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust over the next four years. This helped to fund facilities especially designed for young people in Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She has also earned the title of Institute of Fundraising Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year Scotland 2009. She found herself inspired not only by the young cancer patients that she met, but also by their families.

Its Good 2 Give!

Its Good 2 Give officially came to life in April 2010. It was started to support the young cancer patients and those who put their lives on hold to care for their child, grandchild or sibling. Lynne set a challenging initial target of £1.5 million for herself and her growing army of energetic volunteers. They have no doubt, however, that the generosity of donors will help prove not only that it is good to give, but that is is possible to make a huge difference by doing so. Lynne is Chair and Director of Fundraising for the charity. In 2014 she was given the Sir William Y Darling Award for Good Citizenship by the city of Edinburgh Council .In June 2015 she was given the Local Hero award for Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year. The recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2015 given an OBE for services to children’s charities in Scotland. She was awarded the Inspiration of the Year Award by Charity Champions in 2017.

Ripple Retreat

Their goal to open a Retreat for those young cancer patients and their families was realised in May 2017. The Ripple Retreat allows families to use it for a short break together – a purpose-built, restful, safe place. The Retreat is situated on the shores of Loch Venacher in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Designed to emulate a ripple in the Loch, the retreat really is a work of art! Any young cancer patient or bereaved families of young cancer patients, based in Scotland, can stay. The Retreat can accommodate a maximum of five people and stays for maximum of five nights and there is no cost to the family to stay!

LT Co. Partnership

Lynne and LT Co. originally met through the power of EGG (Edinburgh Gossip Girls). We donated a LT Co. Candle for the Its Good 2 Give fundraising event, Blingo. Lynne then had the idea of offering table gifts to guests at the event and from there our relationship with Lynne and this incredible charity was born. We now supply our natural Hand Wash, Shower Wash, Shampoo, Scent Diffusers and Pillow Mists to the Ripple Retreat.

Lynne is a truly inspirational person; a giver, a campaigner, a sorter, a true good sort.

Please do have a look at her charity page for Its Good 2 Give,They are doing some amazingly good things!

Lynne you rock! Thank you for showing us round.

Kate x

Photos from our visit to the Retreat below