An Angus couple battling to raise funds for life changing surgery for their disabled twins will give up their wedding gifts to boost the cause.
Frazer Hirsh and Averil Fleming are due to tie the knot in October and will ask only for contributions to the campaign to help daughters Ayley and Chloe walk.
The two-year-olds suffer from cerebral palsy and face a life of immobility unless they travel to America to undergo highly specialised surgery.
Averil said the response from the local community so far has been “absolutely amazing,” with more than £12,000 flooding in since the drive began less than two months ago.
“Frazer and I have been together for nine years and we already have everything we need,” she said,
“The invites for the wedding were already out before we started raising funds, so rather than ask for gifts we have just asked everybody if they could donate something.
“It is obviously all family and close friends and everybody has said they will be more than happy to help us.”
The couple have set themselves the ambitious target of pulling together the £80,000 needed for the surgery by the time they wed at the Queen’s Hotel in Dundee on October 15.
After reading about their mammoth task in The Courier, management at the hotel agreed to take £600 off the cost of their reception to put towards the effort.
Averil said, “I have a friend who work’s at the Queen’s and the people at the hotel have just been absolutely incredible. We are getting married and having the reception there.
“The girls are too young to really know what is going on, but they understand ‘wedding’ and have been to try on their dresses. My other daughter Lilly is really excited about it, too.”DUFC dinnerA dinner was held at Dundee United FC on Friday to boost the total and on Saturday members of the public attended a fund-raising ladies night at the Community Hall in Kirriemuir. In addition, an Easter Disco for children and parents was held at Panbride Church Hall on Sunday.
The hectic schedule of simultaneously organising a wedding and a large-scale fund-raising effort is not fazing super-organised Averil, who is determined to see the money collected as quickly as possible.
“Most of the wedding is already organised and it is just the likes of the hen party and stag that have still to be booked and then the dress fittings.
“I have had a lot of help from people and we had a committee meeting the other night to go over what has been done, how much has been raised and what is coming up next.”To make a donation online visit www.justgiving.com/help-ayley-and-chloe-walk or www.facebook.com/helpayleyandchloewalk, Alternatively cheques can be posted to the couple’s home at 18 Winter Place, Carnoustie.