A CHARITY home set up to offer free holidays to poor families from Glasgow has been saved from closure by author JK Rowling.

A CHARITY home set up to offer free holidays to poor families from Glasgow has been saved from closure by author JK Rowling.

Braendam House in Thornhill, near Callander, in the Trossachs, seemed certain to close after the Lilias Graham Trust, the charity that runs it, issued redundancy notices to its staff.

Ms Graham founded the charity in a home inherited from her aunt in 1967 after encountering a Glasgow child who had never been out of the city. However, she died last August, aged 91.

Councils, health boards and other agencies pay upwards of £3000 a week for the focused family therapy, but bookings had dried up as local authorities tightened their belts.

However, it has been saved from closure thanks to JK Rowling's Volant Charitable Trust.

The size of the donation has not been revealed.

As well as the cheque from Volant, other trusts have contributed to a rescue package for Braen dam House, including the Cattanach Trust, Robertson Trust, Endrick Trust, Mugdock Children's Trust, and the Balmore Coach House Trust.

Cath Morrison, chief executive of the Lilias Graham Trust, said the new money would keep the charity going until at least next March.

She said: "It is fantastic news. It was like TV's The Secret Millionaire."