COWDENBEATH Rotary Club president Norman Black paid tribute to the local public who made it possible for £9,000 to be distributed to several good causes.

At last Thursday’s meeting a whole range of organisations were represented at a presentation evening which saw funds handed over to help these groups keep up their good work in many fields.

Norman said: “This is one of the biggest events of our year when we disburse funds to deserving causes.

“This year we have £9,000 to help these grand causes continue their great work and this is only possible through the magnificent backing we get from the people of the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area.

“Without the support of everyone we would not be able to aid these organisations and on behalf of the club I thank everyone who has helped us raise funds for charity causes”.

Last Thursday’s event saw £1,000 presented to Breast Cancer Now; £1,000 to the Breast Unit at Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital; £2,500 to Guide Dogs for the Blind; £1,000 to Fife Society for the Blind; £1,000 for Prostate Cancer UK; £500 for the Andrew Hershaw Forget Me Not Fund; and £250 for eight local gala and community event funds.

The charities were all indebted to the rotarians for their support. Colin, from Breast Cancer Now, commented: “It really has been amazing what the Cowdenbeath club has done for our charity over the years and it is making a real difference to the work being done to find ways of tackling this disease which affects so many woman on an annual basis.”

Rob Pearson, of the Fife branch of Prostate Cancer UK, added: “Each year 47,000 are diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and a great deal of progress is being made on research into this disease but we rely totally on donations for funding so this sort of contribution is so important.”

Lochgelly man Willie Hershaw, on behalf of the Andrew Hershaw Forget Me Not Fund, went on: “The fund is managed by the Bloodwise charity and is geared to offering people suffering from blood cancers support and also looking at ways of finding improved treatments.”

The survival rates for children suffering from blood cancer was now running at eight out of ten after standing at one out of ten several decades ago.

Millie Murphy, of Guide Dogs for the Blind, said that the funding from the club would give them the chance to choose a name for a dog and it was to be ‘Lady’ in recognition of the amount of money the Ladies Day event run by the club had realised over the last three years.

Norman Black concluded: “It is excellent to see these funds going to causes that are making a real difference to people’s lives and we cannot thank people enough for their support.”