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It is not every day a hamper containing wads of cash is offered free but for North Arran First Responders it was manna from heaven.
A total of £678 was picked from the waterfall feature at Isle of Arran Distillery at Lochranza, into which visitors have tossed pennies and other short change in the last eight years.
In that time the coins have amounted to the above sum, to which the distillery has added a further £20 found in the old distiller’s house, making the total £698.
On Monday of this week it was handed over to North Arran First Responders, who will use it to buy new uniforms.
It took distillery staff members Campbell Laing and Alison Hogg 40 hours to collect the money from the waterfall feature when it was being cleaned out recently.
Robin Bell, visitor centre manager at the distillery, said previously the money had gone to the island’s Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme but the distillery decided it wanted to give money to an organisation from which both visitors and local people would benefit.
‘We came up with First Responders because everyone benefits from them,’ he said.
North Arran First Responders is currently mounting a recruiting campaign as some members have recently retired.
It is hoped eventually to have a First Responders team for the southern part of the island as well.
North Arran First Responders chairwoman Fiona Laing thanked the distillery for the generous gift. Also present were First Responders Norman Bond, Lindsay Patrick and Chris Traill.
