An Angus gamekeeper has fired five Kirriemuir pals’ fundraising past the £20,000 mark in a remarkable community response to their effort for Huntington’s.
Last August, Gill Ferguson, Dianne Scott, Jennifer Paton and mum and daughter Susan and Claire Dyce tackled the Three Peaks Challenge in a marathon mountain weekend across Wales, England and Scotland.
They hoped to raise a couple of grand to help support those affected by the degenerative brain condition.
Jennifer’s husband, Mike, was diagnosed with Huntington’s in 2014.
Magnificent local support
But the mountain event quickly climbed well into five figures.
And a £3,000 donation to the girls from local man Jamie Smith has now taken them beyond the magical £20k barrier.
Jamie is the head keeper at Pearsie estate, just north of Kirriemuir.
Jennifer said: “Jamie just took it upon himself to fundraise.
“He organised a brilliant Christmas raffle and got support from a lot of the guns who shoot at Pearsie.
“In all he raised just short of £6,000.
“And he wanted the money to be split between the Scottish Huntington’s Association and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance.
“It’s just brilliant what he has done for us.”
Pearsie is terrain Jennifer and Dianne know well since they have been beaters on shoots there for many years.
“It’s a lovely estate and there is nothing like a day out beating on the hills. I’ve done it for more years than I care to remember,” said Jennifer.
Jamie’s donation has capped the remarkable support for SHA which the Three Peaks event brought in.
The annual challenge involves almost 25 miles of trekking, an ascent of more than 10,000 feet and 462 miles of driving in between Britain’s three highest mountains.
The Kirrie girls experienced tough conditions during a non-stop weekend assault on Snowdon, Scafell and Ben Nevis.
But they were joined by around a dozen family and friends at Fort William for the final climb up Ben Nevis and small champagne celebration at the top of the 4,412 peak.
Jennifer added: “Our own fundraising page was closed down in February, but we were so amazed by what it raised.
“We thought when we started this idea we could maybe get £2,000, but people have just been so amazing in supporting it.
“Jamie’s fundraising was completely his own idea but it means that £20,000 has gone to SHA from Kirriemuir and that is amazing.”
Association’s work
There is no known cure for Huntington’s. It is often considered a ‘forgotten disease’ and SHA works to raise awareness and support families affected by it.
The neurological condition currently affects around 1 in 5,000 people in Scotland.
An estimated 4,000 – 6,000 others, including young people, are at risk of inheriting it from their parents.
Mike worked in the offshore industry before he was diagnosed.
He tragically lost both his mother and sister to the hereditary condition.
