CLAN Cancer Support

CLAN Cancer Support is hoping a partnership with an Aberdeen art initiative will prove the purfect match as cat fever takes over the Granite City next month (September).

The Cat Parade has been organised by the city’s Bon Accord rotary club to help mark the 100th anniversary of the Rotary organisation being established in Aberdeen. CLAN is one of three charities, alongside Unicef and Denis Law’s Streetsport Initiative, that are feline good about their link with the art scheme.

As part of the event, 100 replicas of the iconic Kelly’s Cats, which adorn the parapet of Union Bridge, will be painted by both professional and amateur artists, before being auctioned off to raise funds for the partner charities.

A CLAN cat will be among those that is auctioned off and the charity’s Children and Families team are currently working with clients to come up with a fun design.

Susan Crighton, CLAN’s fundraising manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be involved in such a fun project and would like to thank the Cat Parade for including CLAN as one of their charity partners. We have been enjoying ourselves already thinking of how to decorate CLAN’s cat and are looking forward to seeing all the cats once they are decorated.

“Art trails have proved incredibly popular in recent years and we are sure that the Cat Parade will draw in the crowds. CLAN has a great relationship with rotary clubs throughout the north-east of Scotland, who kindly donate their time to help sell tickets for our annual Mini prize draw. This link makes this partnership even more special to us as we can play a part in marking 100 years of Aberdeen’s Bon Accord rotary club.”

Adrian Blake, one of the Cat Parade organisers, said: “"We are delighted to have CLAN as one of our chosen charities which will benefit from the Cat Parade and I am particularly pleased that they are also participating in the project by decorating a cat".

An exhibition of the cats will run from September 1 to 27 in the Union Bridge windows of Waterstones.

For more information visit http://www.catparade.co.uk/