Clare Balding meets award-winning Maggie's fundraisers at Crufts

The Young Royal Kennel Club Outstanding Young Person of the Year Award was presented to them on Sunday 8 March at Crufts.

The sisters also raised £2600 for Maggie’s after the charity supported their granny Jane through breast cancer.

The younger of the sisters, Evie, is pictured above with Crufts presenter Clare Balding, who herself has a close personal connection to Maggie's. We asked Clare what Maggie's means to her, and she said:

Maggie’s has been an absolute godsend.

"It’s an incredibly important space. I’ve used it myself 15 years ago when I had thyroid cancer, and so has my wife Alice.

It gives people confidence at a time when they lack it completely because they don’t know what’s going on – you’re very confused, you’re very scared.

Having trained cancer specialists who can talk you through what treatment might look like, what the future holds, but also really importantly to make the most of life."

From show and tell to showing Scotties at Crufts

Jane and her two granddaughters from Alexandria went to the prestigious dog show to show their Scottie dogs – Edward, Dugald and Tromie – with the aim of promoting Maggie’s and its ‘Scotties in the City’ art trail to people in the canine community.

The girls also recently held a ‘Meet the Scotties’ session at their school for fellow pupils – raising a fantastic £2600 on the day for Maggie’s.

While at Crufts, Jane and the girls met presenter, Clare Balding, who delighted them by joining them for a photo in the Channel 4 studio.

Jane said: “Myself and the girls have had a fantastic weekend! The girls won the overall Royal Kennel Club Award for Young Person of the Year for all of their in raising the profile of the Scottie breed and for their work promoting Maggie’s Scotties in the City art trail.

“Daphne also came third in the young person’s grooming competition, and she got a 2^nd for showing one of our Scotties in her age group. Evie also won a 1^st for showing her wee dog! Attending these shows is exhilarating for both myself and the girls.

“Both Daphne and Evie are quite mature and level-headed for their age, and they seem to take it all in their stride. Our Scotties are tired today after a long weekend, but they also love being on show!

Giving back to Maggie's

Jane adds: “I’m now in recovery from breast cancer, and Maggie’s supported me throughout my diagnosis. Now, Daphne, Evie and I are doing everything to promote Maggie’s as a charity and its Scotties in the City art trail this year.

“We got to speak to Crufts presenter Clare Balding over the weekend, and she was impressed with our youngsters and happy to get in a photo with us. She loved the idea of the Scotties in the City Trail as well!

“The new Scotties art trail will be fabulous for brightening up Glasgow with its fantastic, giant-sized, colourful Scottie dogs. It will be such a fun trail for visitors to the city and for people who live here to visit with their families. And it will hopefully raise a lot of money for Maggie’s to support other people going through cancer.”

Scotties art trail taking over Glasgow

Also pictured in the photo is Hayley Smith, Project Manager for the Scotties in the City trail for Maggie’s.

She said: “It was fantastic that the girls won the overall Young Person of the Year Award at Crufts! Clare Balding speaking to us about Maggie’s and getting in a photo with myself, Jane and wee Evie was the icing on the cake!

“We really appreciate everything that Jane, Daphne and Evie are doing to raise awareness of our new Scotties in the City art trail and telling everyone about Maggie’s.

“The vibrant Scotties in the City trail will take place for eight weeks this summer. A pack of 30 beautifully designed, giant Scottie dogs will take over Glasgow, including the city and its suburbs.

“Following the trail, the Scotties will be auctioned to raise much needed funds for Maggie’s centres across Scotland.

“At end of the trail, we will host an evening where we will auction off our beautiful, giant Scotties with the aim of raising as much money for Maggie’s, the cancer charity to support as many families going through cancer treatment as possible.”

Here for 30 years, here for good

Hayley added: “We are actually in our 30^th anniversary year, and Maggie’s relies almost entirely on voluntary donations from individuals and the local community to enable our professional team to provide specialist cancer support, psychological support and benefits advice for absolutely everyone who needs it.

“The best bit is that no one needs an appointment to visit Maggie’s. Anyone who is worried about cancer can just come in.”

Whether you're a dog lover or not, we having fundraising events happening all over the country for you to get involved with.

From the Scotties in the city trail, to Mutt Struts and more... there's something for everyone!