A fearless Blairgowrie pensioner will be scaling new heights next month when she takes part in a charity fund-raising challenge.
Joyce Coupar’s advancing years have failed to put a curb on her sense of adventure and the sprightly 78-year-old will abseil 140ft down the side of Dundee University’s Tower Building to raise money for the Stroke Association.
Surprisingly, this will be her second time taking part in the adrenaline-fuelled pastime as she completed a similar event around four years ago in Stirling, again in the name of charity.
She told The Courier this week, “My mother and my late husband were both troubled with their eyesight and that abseil was to raise money for the blind. I thought I could raise some money for the organisation and, between my friends and family, I raised around £1100.
“I hope to do the same this time, although I haven’t set a target for myself as I just think it would be a nice thing to do. I’m very, very privileged to be healthy because there is one thing you can’t buy and that’s your health.”
Mrs Coupar is a well-known figure in Blairgowrie and can often be seen in her family’s laundry and dry cleaning business, where she still works regular shifts. She also keeps herself active by taking part in regular jaunts with the local hill-walking club.
The kind-hearted pensioner hopes to use her extensive contacts to build up her fund-raising pot and has warned that she is “not backwards in coming forward” in asking for donations.
“Nobody but nobody ever says no to me,” she said. “When I’m behind the counter at the laundry, from time to time I can just know if a customer will give me money for my abseil so I just ask.”
To help with Mrs Coupar’s fund-raising efforts, just pop into Blair’s Laundry on Emma Street in Blairgowrie.