"Who's that Girl with the Smile on her face'

It's a beautiful picture of a young girl who looks as if she doesn't have a care in the world. She has a smile on her face, but more importantly her eyes are smiling and eyes they say, never lie.

She could be one of my daughters or yours, she could be your wee sister or the happy girl next door who you've known since she was weeks old and watched grow.

However she's not that girl. There was a time when those eyes didn't shine, a time before she was an 'Aberlour' girl, but thanks to Aberlour and their Sycamore Service Louise loves life again and can look forward to endless possibilities.

Aberlour Child Care Trust is the largest, solely Scottish children's charity, working to improve the lives of children and young people all over the country.

The Aberlour's Sycamore Service offers quality, therapeutic community group living for young people who have suffered neglect, trauma and loss who need long term care and support. Each of the residential units within Aberlour's Sycamore Service has programmes appropriate for the child's social / emotional development and age as well as a caring home environment.

Aberlour Sycamore Service puts energy into solutions and not into problems. It is a positive proactive approach, giving children and young people who have failed in the past the belief that they can be successful in the future. They set fairly normal expectations for young people who do not have normal problems and help them reach and maintain these expectations.

Aberlour's Sycamore Service plan to open a new, 6 bedroom group living home within Kirkcaldy in 2012 for young people aged 5 to 12 years old.

The money raised from the Kiltwalk 2012 will be used to completely equip the house to ensure it is a home from home for the young people who live there. This will include kitchen and bathroom fit out, decoration, sofas, soft furnishings, dining room furniture, TV and DVD player and computer equipment, bedroom furniture for each bedroom, garden furniture and play/recreational equipment for indoors and outdoors.

This will provide a comfortable, safe, relaxing, homely environment for the young people and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Louise's story

The Sycamore Service has helped many children and young people over the years, such as Louise, shown above, who aged 12, came to Sycamore with significant behavioural difficulties due to her parents' inability to look after her properly and allowing her a free rein to behave in an inappropriate and destructive manner. Her social skills were lacking and her self esteem very low - she could not cope in crowds of people and would become destructive and anti-social. She needed full-time support at school as she caused trouble and drew negative attention to herself.

Sycamore Services have a highly qualified and experienced staff team able to understand and respond to a diverse range of needs and subsequent behaviours. Through working with the staff, Louise's self confidence has increased considerably. She is doing extremely well at school and has shown great resilience in overcoming the traumas faced in her early childhood. Louise's future is looking very positive and she is working hard to ensure she achieves her career aspirations.

So this is what Aberlour do for Scotland's children and as you take every KiltWalk step, mile after mile and think you've got nothing left to give, then close your eyes for a moment and think of 'that girl'. Think of Louise and hundreds like her, think of what they have achieved thanks to the wonderful people at Aberlour.

Remember, every single penny raised, goes towards our Partner charities, charities like Aberlour. That thought alone will get you over those final miles.

KiltWalkers remember this "what we do, allows Aberlour to provide a future for children like Louise".