Kidney Kids Scotland: Charity receives £20,000 from McDonald's in the Community Foundation

Led by franchisee Elliot Jardine, local McDonald’s restaurants recently contributed the huge sum to Stenhousemuir-based trust, Kidney Kids Scotland.

Kidney Kids Scotland will use the funds to host a weekend for children with kidney disease, their families, and medical staff, to meet others with the same medical conditions. The weekend aims to educate the children and their families about their illness with workshops held by paediatric consultants, dieticians, psychology experts, social workers and more; as well as encouraging families to spend quality time together.

The donation came from the newly launched McDonald’s in the Community Foundation, set up by 16 Scottish McDonald’s franchisees, and the 20 McDonald’s-owned restaurants in Scotland. The foundation provides a central hub to help distribute funds, raised by the 10p carrier bag charge, to different charities and organisations across Scotland.

McDonald’s franchisee Elliot Jardine, who owns and operates nine restaurants in and around Falkirk, Alloa, Edinburgh and Stirling said: “Supporting our local community is of upmost importance to us, which is why I was so pleased to see the McDonald’s in the Community Foundation officially launch this year. It means that each restaurant group can make meaningful contributions to charities in the communities where we operate. Kidney Kids Scotland makes an incredible difference to children suffering from life-long illness and we’re so pleased to be able to support their fantastic work with this donation.”

Kidney Kids Scotland is the only Scottish charity supporting children with renal and urology illnesses and their families. The charity enables children to receive treatment as close to home as possible and supports hospitals all over Scotland by supplying them with much-needed equipment and funding for essential posts.

Karen McFarlane, manager at Kidney Kids Scotland said: “We’re so grateful to McDonald’s and Elliot Jardine for this generous contribution – the funds will go a long way in supporting children and families affected by kidney failure and we hope to grow this vital work even further. We look forward to continuing our partnership with McDonald’s and supporting the local community together.”