AN ALVA group of handy people raised vital funds for a good cause with a spectacular doll house, which is now on its way to New Zealand.

Many hours of work went into a 1:12 scale replica of Alva House at the Wee County Crafters workshop, which was raffled off at the Famous Alva Games this summer.

As reported in the Advertiser this April, the group hoped to raise funds for Maggie’s Forth Valley, the cancer support charity based at the grounds of Forth Valley Royal Hospital at Larbert.

Through the raffle, the club raised just a pound shy of £1,600, which has now been handed over to the charity.

The spectacular wooden mock-up measures about 4ft square on the base and was won by the lucky Craig Heaney.

Recently, Craig’s eight-year-old granddaughter Caris during her holiday visit to Scotland claimed ownership of the grand prize, which is now being shipped over to New Zealand and will be enjoyed by the delighted youngster upon her return.

Christina Pouso, centre fundraising manager, expressed her gratitude to the local group and the people who bought raffle tickets.

She said: “Thank you so much to the Wee County Crafters for building such an amazing doll house.

“The attention to detail is incredible. It’s wonderful to hear that it is making its way all the way to New Zealand for Caris to enjoy for many years to come.”

The doll house project was led by club chairman John Russell, who used an old photograph to guide the work.

Only one element was added to the original building, which nowadays is nothing more but some crumbling walls at the former Erskine estate between Alva and Tillicoultry, in the front door that was necessary to complete the vision.

It was built to the traditional model scale, where on inch equals a foot, so it could fit into anyone’s collection.

John told the Advertiser the fundraiser had been a good effort by all involved with the doll house a wow-factor at the annual games, where the club has always been able to engage with many people.

The games was held on a brilliant sunny day and the crafters’ stall altogether included around 15 raffle prizes, mostly the creations of members.

Craig had set the house up in his home for a presentation (pictured) with John saying: “It was nice to see it in a good location, the girl’s granny had fitted out the house with a lot of furniture, which made it look quite beautiful and the whole thing worked really well.

“At the end of the day everybody was happy.

“I was delighted it [the doll house] went to a good home; the girl was delighted with what she got, Maggie’s were delighted with the money we raised. So, all in all, it was an excellent exercise.”

John and the team at Wee Country Crafters are now drawing up ideas for next year’s masterpieces for the annual games.