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Errol’s ‘Mr Market’ turns terminal cancer diagnosis into a £30,000 force for good

When Errol Sunday Market director Keith Payne learned his cancer was untreatable, he set his mind to helping others.

Keith Payne in a group with Errol Sunday market traders holding a sign saying £30,000
Keith Payne, centre, celebrates his success with Errol Sunday market traders. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

Keith Payne is a man who makes things happen. In the 1970s he helped turn Ingliston market into a national phenomenon. Later, he ran the Kinross indoor market. And for the last 10 years, he has welcomed bargain-hunters in their thousands to the Errol Sunday market.

So it should come as no surprise that he is continuing to make things happen, despite a terminal cancer diagnosis.

The dad of five responded to the news that he has prostate cancer and advanced gastric cancer by launching a fundraising appeal on behalf of three charities in the spring.

The aim was to raise £15,000 and give £5,000 each to Prostate Cancer UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK.

It has been such a success that it has already raised twice its target.

Keith Payne with Errol Sunday market traders Carol Watson, Lana Melville, Clark Christie, Declan Davis, Helene O'Neil and Hannah Potts
Keith Payne with Errol Sunday market traders Carol Watson, Lana Melville, Clark Christie, Declan Davis, Helene O’Neil and Hannah Potts. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

And now Keith, known affectionately as Mr P to his Errol market regulars, is turning his attention to raising awareness of cancer symptoms in the hope of saving someone else’s life.

“My diagnosis was a hard pill to swallow,” said Keith.

“I did a bit of ‘why me, poor me’ when I was told. But that’s not really in my character.

“Now every day is a bonus.”

Cancer diagnosis stopped Keith in his tracks

Keith, from Errol, was recruited by businessman Morris Leslie to run the Sunday market at Errol Airfield just over a decade ago.

He’d steered the Ingliston Market to giddy heights in the 1970s and 80s, even purchasing the giant King Kong statue that became its trademark.

In its heyday it boasted more than 3,000 stalls. And 500 coachloads of day-trippers used to converge on the site near Edinburgh from across Scotland and the north of England.

Crowds at Errol Sunday Market.
Keith Payne has helped turn Errol Sunday Market into a major draw. Image: Steve MacDougall / DC Thomson.

Keith made a similar success of Errol.

Billed as “Scotland’s premier Sunday market and car boot sale”, it regularly attracts up to 10,000 people. And Keith was appointed director last year, in recognition of all he has achieved, particularly coming out of the pandemic.

But in late 2021, he started feeling lethargic. He was having to get up several times a night to go to the toilet.

So he visited his doctor in January 2022 and was referred for a series of scans and tests.

In March 2022 he learned he had prostate cancer and gastric cancer – and that there were no treatment options to extend his life.

Keith Payne and his grandson.
Keith Payne and his grandson. Image: Keith Payne.

He kept the diagnosis quiet for a while.

But by this year the effects were beginning to take their toll. He has lost about eight stone in weight.

And that’s when his mind turned to all the things he still wanted to achieve.

‘Team work makes the dream work’: the Keith Payne motto

Keith joined forces with Lee-Anne Wilson in the Morris Leslie marketing department in March, and between them they hatched a fundraising plan.

Since then, the Keith Payne Big C and Me appeal has snowballed.

Keith Payne presenting £5,000 to a group in Prostate Cancer UK t shirts.
Keith Payne already presented £5,000 to Prostate Cancer UK. But he and his pals were just getting started. Image: Morris Leslie.

Colleagues have thrown themselves into everything from skydives to bake sales. And market stall holders and traders have poured every spare penny and pound into collection buckets.

The appeal quickly smashed through its original £15,000 target and the total is currently standing at just over £30,000.

Now, Keith’s pet charity CHAS will also receive £5,000.

And the three original charities – Prostate Cancer UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK – will each receive a third of what remains.

Keith said he’d been “blown away” by the success.

Keith Payne and friends holding up figures representing the number £30,000.
Keith Payne and pals celebrated raising twice their target at Errol market on Sunday. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

“When Lee-Anne suggested we aim for £15,000 I just put my head in my hands,” he laughed.

“I thought we’d never be able to raise that amount of money.

“But I’ve always said ‘team work makes the dream work’.”

We channelled our sadness into something positive

Lee-Anne said Keith’s friends felt honoured to be able to return the years of loyalty, support and friendship he had shown to them.

“From the beginning, Keith said that alone he could only do so much. But together, with his families, friends and colleagues by his side, we would form an army and make great things happen. And that is exactly what we have done.

“Keith gave us an opportunity to channel our sadness into something positive and we have been inspired to help him reach his goal.”

Keith’s GoFundMe page is still open.

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