Christmas-daft Scots mum hopes to save dementia charity by lighting up her home

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A Christmas-daft mum hopes to save a lifeline Scots charity by decking out her house in festive lights.

Ruth Moore is once again tripping the light fantastic by illuminating her East Kilbride home for charity.

This Christmas she is raising cash for East Kilbride and District Dementia Carers Group for a second year after hearing the vital service is struggling to stay afloat.

Each year in celebration of her birthday, Ruth illuminates her home in Bosfield Place, East Mains, decking it out in all things festive for a good local cause.

The tradition was started by her late father William Miller who always made an extra special effort to transform the family home into a winter wonderland.

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Carrying on the tradition for the last decade in his memory, Ruth and her family and friends get to work like busy little elves mid-November to make sure the house is full of festive cheer.

The lights will go on from December 3-30 from 5pm-8pm.

Former care worker Ruth, 52, is urging locals to come along and dig deep.

The mum-of-three said: “My dad always did this for me so I carried it on and made it bigger and bigger each year.

“I add to it every year. It’s sentimental for me in memory of my dad and it bring a bit of festive cheer to the community.

"I have a few new decorations after my penguins blew up! I have a train and Santa on ladders with a few wee extras."

Over the years Ruth and her supporters have raised over £10,000 for a whole host of charities. Last year she raised £2500 for EK Dementia Carers and hopes to top that to support them in their time of need.

She added: “I'm hoping to raise £3000 or more to help the charity out as they're really struggling just now. I feel quite strongly about helping local charities and the Pine Crescent facility is a valuable local service. They rely on funding so they need all the help they can get.

"As always the people of East Kilbride have been amazing with shops and businesses, mainly in the Village, being fantastic with donations and raffle prizes."

EK Dementia Carers have been a lifeline service in East Kilbride for over 30 years. The charity aims to give people a better quality of life and keep them as healthy, fit and active as possible participating actively in society.

The service tries to alleviate the stress and pressure on family carers and enable them to carry on supporting their loved one for longer, improving their own quality of life.

However they need to raise £75,000 this year just to continue providing that service. At present they are around £46,000 short of that target.

Group co-ordinator Brian Doig said: "We receive no financial support from the government or local authority, relying on fundraising, donations and grants to survive.

"We do not pay fundraisers or directors, they are all volunteers. That means that every penny received or saved goes directly into providing over 13,000 hours care and support to people with dementia and their carers each year.

"We need to raise £75,000 this year just to continue providing a service. At present we are around £46,000 short of that target. The cost of living crisis is real!

"We have lost very good supporters over the last few years, with M&S Town Centre and Sainsburys Olympia closing. We have also lost fundraising opportunities… for example bag packing stopped with the pandemic.

"Whilst this seems to paint a bleak picture, there is no denying that we are in a fight to secure our future. People are relying on us and as a group, we do have a responsibility to the people we support, their carers and to our employees.

"We believe that we have a unique service worth fighting for and are doing everything in our power to address the funding shortfall. The tireless work of Ruth to raise funds and awareness is truly inspirational and will make a difference.

"She deserves a medal for all she does to support charity, however I know she doesn’t do it for recognition, but to celebrate Christmas and honour those she loves."

Ruth would like to thank all local businesses who donated to the cause, especially Hester and Lalli undertakers for their continued support and Claire Kostric for her window artwork.

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