289 October 2018 - Gryffe Advertizer

8
The Advertizer
an invasion of seagulls in Craigends by Matt Johnston
Gryffe Camera Club
10-year-old donates entire Lego collection to St. Vincent’s
10-year-old James
Blair from Johnstone
has donated his entire
Lego collection to St.
Vincent’s Hospice for
children who come
to visit relatives and
loved ones.
James, who is in
Primary Six at St.
Margaret’s Primary School, brought in seven years’ worth coloured bricks, planes,
trucks, cars and much more, collected from Birthdays and Christmases.
James said: “I don’t play with Lego much anymore, so decided to clear it out. I
didn’t just want to throw it away: a lot of it is really expensive, took a lot of work
to build and I thought I could do something nice with it.
“My Gran and Cousin were looked after by St. Vincent’s Hospice, so I decided
to give them my Lego, so that other boys and girls who come to visit their family
will have something to play with.”
10K charity run raises over
£1,000 for St. Vincent’s Hospice
The Bowfield Hotel and Country
Club’s annual 10k Charity Road
Race has raised an incredible
£1,365 for St. Vincent’s Hospice.
With around 100 people taking part,
the event took competitors through a challenging 10k route through the
Howwood countryside, taking in some fantastic scenery and tackling a few hills
along the way.
The Hotel in Howwood has been a longstanding supporter of the Hospice and
their charity race is now a popular event in the calendar.
Several organisations from the local community got together to help with the
event. JDPS Plumbing Ltd. from Elderslie sponsored the race t-shirts and
medals, Kilbarchan Athletics Club helped with timekeeping and Johnstone TOA
Taxis assisted with transportation for race marshals on the day.
Laura McDade, Fundraiser for St. Vincent’s Hospice, said: “We were lucky to
have a beautiful sunny day and a fantastic turn out from the local community
for this year’s event. We know how much hard work it takes to make events like
the Bowfield 10K such a great success and we would like to say a huge thank
you to everyone involved.
St. Vincent’s Hospice are a specialist provider of palliative and Hospice care
for individuals and families throughout Renfrewshire who are affected by lifelimiting
conditions. They also provide bereavement support and counselling
for children and young people, from two to 18 years old, who have suffered the
loss of a loved on.
Laura McDade, Fundraiser for St. Vincent’s Hospice who works closely with
primary schools throughout the Renfrewshire area, said: “This is an amazing
gesture from James, and we can’t thank him enough for this generosity. At St.
Vincent’s, not only do we work with Children and young people going through
difficult times every single day, but we have countless come through our doors
every week to visit relatives and loved ones, and we are positive that they will
get hours of fun out of the Lego.
“Donations like this just prove that everyone has something they can offer that
can make a huge difference to St. Vincent’s patients and families. We want to
say another big thank you to James and his family, for all their support.”
For more information on how you can support St. Vincent’s Hospice, either via
fundraising, volunteering or donating items to our charity shops, visit: www.
SVH.co.uk
Marcus’s Mammoth Mountain
Climb
Nine-year-old Marcus Tinley from
Bearsden in Glasgow has taken on a
mammoth challenge, scaling Scotland’s
highest mountain Ben Nevis via the long
and technical climb of Tower Ridge, in a
climb that took a total of 12.5 hours.
Tower Ridge is one of the longest and
most sought after ridges in Scotland,
and a challenge for even the most
experienced of mountaineers. Marcus
said:
“I love nature and mountain climbing is
fun, it challenges you and makes you
fit. I got into because of my dad and I
love climbing and spending time with him. It doesn’t ever scare me because I’m
on the end of a rope which will save me if I fall!
Marcus is no stranger to mountain climbing. Having started with the dumpling
at Gartocharn at age two. Then moving onto Dumgoyne, Conic and Ben Aan, he
climbed his first Munro, Ben Lomond, when he was four years old.
One of his favourite things about climbing is consuming lots of food for energy.
“After the Tower Ridge climb, I had 20 chicken nuggets, fries and a medium
strawberry milkshake. I was so hungry after 12 hours on Tower Ridge, I also ate
half a Chicken and Mushroom pizza in Fort William! My favourite hill snacks are
massive cakes like chocolate log.”
Marcus’s dad, Simon Tinley is a keen mountaineer himself, having climbed all
over Scotland in summer and winter, and Alpine peaks such as Mont Blanc and
Matterhorn. “I’m very proud of Marcus, and all he has achieved to date...We
have a great time out climbing and he’s always up for trying something new.
This challenge was especially important as he wanted to raise money for the
children’s charity, Variety.
“Marcus chose the charity himself, which funds specialist equipment and fun
days out to help disabled and disadvantaged children, because he agrees with
their aims – that all children should have an equal opportunity to reach their
potential, regardless of their circumstances.”
Deadline date for our November issue - Friday 19th October - you don’t want to miss it!!