Paul Harris Fellow Roseann Haig

Rotary award for local community champion

The work and dedication of the chairperson of Dunfermline based charity, Circle of Comfort, was recognised by the Rotary Club of West Fife. Rotary’s top award is not exclusive to Rotarians and the club decided to confer a Paul Harris Fellowship on a non member who was well worthy of such recognition.

The award named after the founder of Rotary International was presented to the founder in 2007 of Circle of Comfort, Roseann Haig.

Roseann and her charity have shown tremendous service to people who find themselves in the most scary of situations. They are the first port of call from someone just diagnosed with cancer.  Clients are given their treatments in the comfort of their own home free of charge, by one of their fully qualified therapists.

Roseann Haig who lives in Halbeath Road, started her journey as a complementary therapist for people with a life shortening diagnosis in 2005.

After completing her BSc in Complementary Therapies from Napier University and setting up her own business, she responded to a call-out from the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy for volunteers to deliver complementary treatments to patients.

Roseann began working with terminally ill cancer patients in the hospice at Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline. At that time this was quite a new approach to working with hospice patients for the NHS.

The charity was launched in November 2007 and was named Circle of Comfort in memory of the “COMFORT” that Pamela Brock-Carstairs had told Roseann she felt, after her therapy treatments.

Since 2007 Circle of Comfort has operated as a registered charity which offers reflexology, massage or aromatherapy treatments to people in Fife and Perthshire who are living with the side effects of cancer, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. 

From Dunfermline and West Fife, coverage expanded in 2009 to the whole of Fife, initially treating people with cancer but subsequently extended to MS and Parkinsons. In 2017 the area was expanded to include Perthshire. 

That includes at the Cornhill Day Centre at Perth Royal Infirmary delivering a service level agreement with Macmillan Cancer Care. A similar service level agreement exists with Parkinsons UK. 

Now Circle of Comfort is managed by a small voluntary Executive Committee of Trustees of which Roseann is the Chairperson.

They strive to keep their administration cost to a minimum and pride themselves that a large percentage of money raised through fundraising, goes directly towards the care of Clients.

Typically £15000 to £20000 has to be raised every year to sustain the charity’s running costs.  Yet clients encounter no charges. 

The charity’s motto is, “Giving our Time for You”.  Roseann is passionate about the services the charity provides and takes every opportunity to raise awareness of the charity so more people can benefit of their therapy treatments.

In 2016 Roseann was the Great Scot Community Champion of the Year and on Friday 3rd June Roseann Haig accepted this much deserved Paul Harris Fellowship at the club’s Charter Dinner from the guest speaker, Willie Rennie MSP.