THE mother of an eight-year-old autistic boy has been named "Selfless Mum of the Year" at a national awards ceremony after raising £100,000 for playground equipment at his school.
Lynsey Findlay, 36, decided that the playground at Pinewood special needs school in Blackburn, Wes
t Lothian, needed a new lease of life and as treasurer of the school parent council helped launch a major fundraising drive.
Within just four months they had gathered £65,000, and went on to scoop the remainder after winning a TV vote on lottery programme The People's Millions.
Mrs Findlay, who has a four-year-old daughter, Abi, as well as eight-year-old Kerr, helps run a facilities management business from home, but still found the time to run the fundraising appeal.
She said: "There were a couple of really old pieces of equipment that had been there for years and years that had never really been maintained and it's quite a large playground.
"Our normal fundraisers of pamper nights, summer fairs and Christmas fairs raise a good amount of money but it would have taken us years to raise the total amount, so we did some research to find who we should apply to for grants and wrote to local businesses, masonic lodges – anybody and everybody we could possibly think of.
"I don't know how we found the time. I think back to it now and I think 'did somebody add four hours to my day?' The playground did take over."
The playground, including specialist equipment for wheelchair users, was installed last Easter, and has proven a great hit with pupils.
Mrs Findlay, who lives in Livingston, has since raised thousands more for special bikes, and is £1,000 away from having raised enough for a new minibus.
Her hard work was recognised at the Tesco Magazine Mum of the Year awards in London last Saturday after being nominated by her mother-in-law, Isabel Findlay.
After a speech by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, she received the award from EastEnders star Patsy Palmer.
The following day, she and other prize winners were treated to breakfast at 10 Downing Street by Sarah Brown, who was on the judging panel.
Mrs Findlay said she had been amazed by the attention. She said: "It was kind of hard to take in at first, because to me I'm just a mum that has a child with special needs.
"The things that we all do as parents at the school we do because our children have special needs and we just want that bit extra for them."
Pam Greig, headteacher at Pinewood, said: "Lynsey and everyone on the school's parents and staff association committee have demonstrated a huge commitment to Pinewood with their dedicated fundraising efforts, and deserve to be recognised.The playground has had a huge positive impact on the pupils."
