Elsie Normington Foundation announced as 2024 Charity Partner
We are delighted to announce The Elsie Normington Foundation as our official charity partner for 2024. Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has a huge Highland audience, and through this partnership, we will be able to support the charity in raising money and awareness of the incredible work they do, not only in Inverness but throughout the Highlands. Every year, Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival nominates a local Highland charity as its partner to give back to the community and support local initiatives that make a positive impact across the Highlands and Islands.
There are many ways to support the Elsie Normington Foundation through Belladrum; Customers can choose to donate while buying their festival tickets or enter our Big Bella Christmas Prize Draw in December for a chance to win a huge hamper that includes a Belladrum 2024 Family Pass, a £50 merchandise voucher, and local goodies from our friends at Tomatin Distillery, Black Isle Brewery and the Co-op.
Miele’s Gelateria are kindly donating a percentage of every gelato cake bought to collect in December, and customers will be automatically entered into a prize draw for tickets to Belladrum 2024. The Elsie Normington Foundation will also join us at the festival, so make sure to say hello and bring any spare change. In the meantime, why not visit The Haven Centre for a cup of tea and see for yourself the amazing work they do?
Elsie Normington, Chair and Founder of the Elsie Normington Foundation said: “We are absolutely delighted that Belladrum Festival have chosen the Elsie Normington Foundation as their charity for 2024. We are a small local charity but have big ambitions and have recently delivered the £4.8m Haven Centre, Scotland's first integrated play centre and respite facility for children and young adults with severe and complex needs and disabilities. Having the support of the Belladrum Festival will allow us to reach new audiences and raise vital funds for the foundation and future projects. This year we celebrated our 10 year anniversary and we have been reflecting on the tremendous support of our donors, fundraisers, the local community and grant funders who have helped us to realise the Haven Centre vision and we look forward to the future of the foundation and developing and delivering new projects in the Highlands which will support local children and young adults with learning disabilities, and their parents and carers."
About The Elsie Normington Foundation
The Elsie Normington Foundation (ENF) was established as a charity in May 2013 by learning disability campaigner Elsie Normington, following the launch of her inspirational book, ‘The Silent Doorbell’ (2012), a personal memoir of raising her son, Andrew, who has a severe learning disability. A story of heartache, despair, love and triumph, the book exposed the chronic lack of services for children and young people with severe learning disabilities and complex needs in the Highlands and Islands. Elsie’s story resonated with parents, who shared in her experience of raising a disabled child with no or limited access to play services or overnight respite care.
This desperate need identified by families of disabled children in the Highlands and Islands inspired the ENF, which was set up to raise money for a specialist centre in the region. These ambitions led to plans for the Haven Centre, Scotland’s first multi-purpose centre for children and young adults with severe learning disabilities and complex needs. The Haven Centre now stands proudly in the heart of Smithton, providing much-needed play services and respite facilities for our young disabled in the Highlands, alongside a thriving community café. We are excited about the future of the charity as we develop and evolve new projects to meet the needs of the learning disability community in the Highlands and Islands.
Find out more about ENF and how you can support the charity here.