Staff from across NHS Tayside are clubbing together to bid for one of the Oor Wullie statues.
Dr Simon Crawley, a consultant at Ninewells Hospital, was inspired to start the crowdfunding campaign after his young daughter asked if they could have one of the popular statues in their garden.
Realising how popular the statues were with young children, Dr Crawley decided it would be a good idea to make Wullie a permanent fixture at Ninewells.
The statues are to be auctioned in September, with all proceeds from the winning bids going to the Archie Foundation.
The foundation are hoping to raise £2 million for a new twin operating theatre surgical suite for the children’s ward at Ninewells.
Simon pulled together a Just Giving page, and invited fellow NHS Tayside colleagues to donate toward the purchase of a statue.
“The response and donations have been really positive, almost overwhelming really,” he said.
“In just under two weeks, we’ve achieved over 40% of our target and in the first eight days we had received almost £1000 in donations.
“It is really encouraging to see staff getting involved in this worthwhile cause.
“People have been so generous already, we’ve had donations ranging from £10-£50 from staff members right across NHS Tayside.
“Like a lot of families in Dundee, we have been really impressed with the Bucket Trail. My daughter asked me if we could have one in our garden, and it gave me the idea that it would be really nice to have one of the statues in the children’s ward.”
Dr Crawley is hoping staff can dig deep and raise £6,000, which he believes could be enough to secure one of the coveted statues.
He also noted the money will go directly to the Archie Foundation, so even if NHS staff are unsuccessful in their bid, they will still have raised a “great” amount of money for a good cause.
Simon has set his sights on bringing the Baxter Park statue to the children’s ward, calling it his favourite of the tour.
He said: “Everyone has a statue on the tour they like the best. The statue in Baxter Park is my favourite, as it has hand prints from children who were in the ward at the time.
“I think this would be an appropriate one to have in the ward, but to have any statue would be really great.”
Statues from the trail will be auctioned off on September 13 at an auction event at The Rep.
See more at www.oorwulliebuckettrail.com.
