Wendy Stubb

When Wendy Stubbs’ sister told her about a machine that makes it easier to find patients’ veins, she immediately thought of the University’s Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic and how it could use the machine to help its patients.

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The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh aims to improve the quality of life for people with a range of neurodegenerative conditions through research. By conducting drug trials and discovery research, the centre aims to bring hope to people living with neurological conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS), motor neuron disease (MND), Parkinson’s and early onset dementias.

Wendy approached the Clinic with her fundraising idea, and after some trials they decided to focus on an AccuVein machine. “Now I had to think of how to raise funds for the machine that could help staff and patients.”

The Clinic has many supporters, who fundraise in a variety of ways, but Wendy knew that she would have to be imaginative: “I knew I couldn’t do a big, long walk and had to have a long think on what I could do that would challenge me and raise money for the machine.”

This led Wendy to the innovative and imaginative idea to have a ‘no mocha month’. “All my friends and family know I love a mocha, so I donated all the money I would have spent on mochas to the JustGiving page. It’s safe to say that Starbucks’ takings went down significantly that month!”

I couldn’t do a big, long walk and had to have a long think on what I could do, that would challenge me and raise money for the machine.

But it wasn’t just the savings from her local Starbucks that Wendy contributed, as she got others in on the fundraising too: “Friends and family sponsored me to not have a mocha for a whole month. I was laughing with a colleague that I was actually embarrassed about the amount I spent a month on mochas but I was glad to have so much to redirect to the Anne Rowling Clinic.”

Wendy’s actions show that there are many ways that you can contribute, and she puts it best herself: “You don’t have to do a challenging walk, run or jump out of a plane to make an impact - there are different ways of doing it.”

These kind of machines are not cheap, however, as Wendy discovered: “The machine was much more expensive than I expected but I didn’t have to raise it all myself. Just at the point I was thinking ‘oh goodness, what have I started’, and wondering if I should go ahead with this idea, I found out the staff at the Anne Rowling Clinic were doing the Kiltwalk to help raise money and they were happy to put it towards the AccuVein machine.”

Between Wendy’s innovative fundraising and the incredible staff at the Clinic, they were able to successfully fundraise for the full amount. The AccuVein machine is now helping people at the Anne Rowling Clinic.

Wendy was really grateful to everyone who had helped her fundraising, “When I heard the staff were also fundraising I felt humbled! The staff who work so hard to look after patients and do such an amazing job are doing a Kiltwalk in their spare time! I already think they are amazing but this really filled my heart that they care so much.”

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Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic

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