A charity founded after the death of Borderer Hazel Scott Aiton in a car crash has raised over £550,000 over the last eight years.
Hazel’s Footprints Trust seeks to provide funding for people wishing to work voluntarily in schools, charities or community projects abroad, to enrich the lives of the communities they work in while expanding their own horizons through their experiences.
The sport-loving 21-year-old died in a car crash close to the family home at Legerwood near Earlston in August 2004
Before going to Durham University, Hazel spent a year at the Otjikondo Village School in a remote location in Namibia, where she saw first-hand what an enormous difference could be made to the lives of others.
The aims of Hazel’s Footprints Trust are:
z To advance education by the provision of financial assistance to people doing voluntary work overseas;
z To promote the charitable purposes of the Otjikondo Village School Foundation, Namibia, with an annual donation.
z To relieve poverty and advance education elsewhere in the world by the provision of occasional grants to educational establishments in impoverished countries.
Schools in many remote parts of the world have benefited from the trust’s generosity, including Nubri School in Nepal which can only be reached by a five day trek, carrying anything needed to survive and to enhance the school.
Trust co-founder Joan Scott Aiton gave an talk at the Rotary Club of Galashiels, describing the trust’s activities, fundraising and how they ensure the funds are spent appropriately by having volunteers at each project.
More information about the Trust is on their website: www.hazelsfootprints.org/ .