Members of the Highland Metal Detectorists turned a Sunday afternoon dig into both a treasure hunt and a charitable effort, raising over £650 for local charity Secret Santa.
The quarterly dig at Newton of Budgate Farm saw participants uncover medieval rings, coins and buttons – but the real reward was the support given to families in need across Inverness.
Secret Santa, founded by Dave MacRae, has been serving the Inverness community for 20 years, providing Christmas gifts and support to underprivileged children, families, the elderly, and disabled people. Mr MacRae attended the event to explain the charity’s work and to present raffle prizes to lucky winners.
“These great bunch of ladies and gentlemen raised then made the lovely donation of £654 towards our Secret Santa, helping the children and families in Inverness less fortunate than ourselves,” Mr MacRae said in a Facebook post. “Myself and all of the Secret Santa Team thank them all very much for their kindness, and wish them all good luck in their future digs.”
The dig was made possible thanks to main sponsors CRAWFORD’s/Minelab, along with contributions from Dragon Detecting, Howdens, Munro’s Garden Centres, The Hollywood Bowl, The Three Witches Carvery, Hobby Craft, Infinity Trampolines and Jayne Caldwell, who baked a special metal-detecting cake for the event.