The Horseshoe Bar, Motherwell, Hosts a Night in Aid of Yorkhill Childrens' Hospital

The Horseshoe Bar in Motherwell, Lanarkshire was the venue for a very special evening on Tuesday, 1st December, 2009. It played host to an event dedicated to raising as much money as possible for The Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow. This evening was as part of the worldwide charity project entitled, "The Five Dollar Vacation," which kicked off in the Spring of 2009. This site is dedicated to detailing the evening and its success and how much money was raised for such a wonderful cause.

The Five Dollar Vacation is essentially a project which came about by accident and a series of coincidences. It has, however, sent those five US dollar bills on a vacation that most of us can only dream of. They have been to Spain, France, Germany, Romania and even (as pictured) The Great Wall of China, as well as a whole host of other destinations, all the while attempting to raise as much money as possible for a wide variety of different deserving charities from around the world.

As The Five Dollar Vacation draws inevitably to a close, it is now time to disperse The Five Dollars to five different just causes:

Dollar One will represent Faith; Dollar Two will represent Hope; Dollar Three will represent Charity; Dollar Four will represent Freedom; Dollar Five will represent Love. It is Dollar Two (Hope) which is being made to represent the biggest hope for the future of all - Children - and will therefore be devoted and donated to The Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) and hopefully raise a great deal of funds for same at Motherwell's Horseshoe Bar on Tuesday, 1st December.  

The Horseshoe Bar is located in the very centre of the town of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, on the corner of what is locally known as Motherwell Cross. The pub sells a wide variety of beers, wines and spirits and hosts a number of different events on different nights of the week. Tuesday, 1st December, 2009, saw it host a very special evening in aid of Yorkhill Childrens' Hospital. With the aid of raffles, charity challenges and the good will of the pub staff and patrons, the princely sum of £800.00 was raised on the night for the children of Yorkhill Hospital.

The Horseshoe Bar is pictured to the right, along with Manageress, Bernadette McCully, stood behind the bar with The Five Dollars, as part of the lead up to the main event. My sincere thanks go to Bernadette for not only hosting our event on the night and coming along to help support it, but also for the sizeable donations which she made to the charity and to the raffles.

I would like to extend many heartfelt thanks to a lot of people, both for the night which took place in the Horseshoe Bar and for their contribution to The Five Dollar Vacation in general. One person definitely worthy of a special mention is Motherwell DJ, John Martin, who provided his services free of charge on the night and also donated a number of prizes to the raffle. This meant that Bernadette, the pub manageress, donated the monies which would otherwise have been spent on entertainment to the Yorkhill Childrens' Foundation.

As touched upon above, many of the raffle prizes on the night were donated by individuals. I would also like to thank, however, Genesis Hair Design in Wishaw, The Corner Bar in Wishaw and Motherwell Football Club for their gratefully received contributions. As promised to his mother - who works for Motherwell FC - I would like to extend my best wishes to Connor Kelly, who is presently an outpatient of Yorkhill Children's Hospital. 

Yorkhill Childrens' Hospital in Glasgow treats more than a hundred thousand Scottish children every year, for a wide variety of ailments and diseases. Although Yorkhill Childrens' Hospital is of course funded by the National Health Service, there are so many things which these children require that the NHS can not provide. These items include everything from specialised equipment for the ICU (Intensive Care Unit,) to entertainers to help keep the children amused and their minds off their troubles. It is in order to cater to these requirements that the Yorkhill Childrens' Foundation exists.

If you were unable to attend the event in the Horseshoe Bar in Motherwell on 1st December but would like to donate something to this most worthy of causes, you may do so via the link below:

The Yorkhill Childrens' Foundation

Thank you for whatever you can spare, in whatever way.

Dollar Two was framed and dedicated to the Yorkhill Children's Foundation, working on behalf of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill). The small print - somewhat difficult to read in the above picture - reads:

The children are the future, the Hope the world does bear,

Their well-being and development, are duties we must share;

For those who give sick children Hope, who help them in their plight,

Let Dollar Two shine in the dark and bring to them some light.

Dollar Two is hereby presented to the Yorkhill Children's Foundation on behalf of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill), along with £800.00 raised by the staff and patrons of The Horseshoe Bar, Motherwell, this 8th day of December, 2009.

The image below is of me (I am the one on the left!!!) handing over the cheque to Abigail of the Yorkhill Children's Foundation, while Jane Forrest - who gave me so much support with the Glasgow chapter of The Five Dollar Vacation - passes over the dedicated Dollar Two. Note that the remaining four dollars also appear in the picture and this is the last photograph in which all five dollars will appear together.