In December, all of Strathcarron Hospice’s services, both in-house and across the local community, were funded entirely by the family of Alan James Brisbane, a Learning Disabilities Healthcare Support Worker who dedicated over 30 years to NHS Forth Valley.
Alan’s youngest daughter, Jennifer, a Corporate Services Assistant in Carseview House, shared their family’s journey:
“Today we celebrated a huge milestone. We were invited to the hospice for tea and cake, spoke with the lovely staff, and reminisced about my wonderful dad. Unfortunately, my sister Rhianne was unable to attend, but she received flowers and baked goodies as a thank you.
“My mum, sister and I set ourselves the daunting goal of raising enough to fund a full day of Strathcarron’s services, following the incredible Hospice at Home support my dad received in 2021. As the service is funded solely by donations, we wanted to show our appreciation and help support other families in our community.
“We achieved our goal within four years and, very fittingly, reached it on the anniversary of my dad’s passing. Along the way, we abseiled 100ft down the Falkirk Wheel, ran raffles, sold goodies at fayres, completed step challenges, and finally hosted an event at the Dobbie Hall with 200 attendees. Thankfully, I’m good at organising things, because we never expected to sell out of tickets twice!
“Through this experience, I’ve realised how many people don’t know how much it costs to run Strathcarron. It now takes £19,452 to fund just one day of their services. I hope our efforts have helped raise awareness and encouraged more open, positive conversations about palliative care, helping to tackle stigma.
“I’m so grateful we were able to reach our goal and support families going through something similar. My dad was such a selfless man, so it only felt right to make a big fuss… something he would have hated!”
Together, Jennifer, her mum Dianne, sister Rhianne, and aunt Lorraine raised an outstanding £15,283, surpassing their original target of £14,315.
A remarkable achievement and a beautiful tribute to Alan’s legacy.
