A GRANDFATHER has presented a cheque for £8,240 to a hospital charity which helps the families of sick children, in memory of his grandson Owen, who died with a hole in his heart at the age of three.

James Mcalpine made and sold 385 bird boxes and held tombolas and raffles during the past year to help raise the money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), which provide families with a comfortable home while their children are in hospital.

The wood for the bird boxes was donated by Treeline at Baddinsgill, West Linton, from manufactured timber which is unsaleable due to knots.

Mr Mcalpine said: “I had the pleasure of attending Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Sick Kids as Right Worshipful Master of Lodge St. John Kilwinning No.57 in Haddington to present a cheque on behalf of the Lodge for £8,240 for RMHC.

“This will sponsor a room for a year, as well as helping families to stay over during very difficult times.

“My thanks to all who bought one of the 385 bird boxes I built and fitted over the last year; to all who bought a raffle or tombola ticket and to those who simply gave.”

Mr Mcalpine sold the bird boxes for £10 each and was helped on his tombolas and raffles by granddaughter Alice, aged eight, Owen’s cousin.

Mr Mcalpine said: “We lost our three-and-a-half-year-old grandson, Owen.

“When he was being treated at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, my son and his wife, who live in Edinburgh, stayed in a Ronald McDonald House nearby.

“I continue to build bird boxes and will no doubt raise more much-needed funding over the upcoming year.”