Merry Christmas, one and all! I realise I’m a bit late but, y’know, I take my turkey, trimmings and all the rest rather seriously.
Actually I didn’t have turkey this year, rarely do in fact, but I feel I’m already wandering off the point. Maybe it’s the eggnog.
The point is those manning, in this case the definition of sex is relevant, The Courier offices are about to look a little like Santa. Well, the older generation at least.
I presume everybody braved the December chills to have a proper clean shave and scrub up well on Christmas Day because those razors can be locked away until Burns Night.
This isn’t just some madcap bet or attempt to prove our manliness, particularly as I fear the latter may always be doomed to fail, but rather it’s all for a great cause.
Beards For Bairns. Simply put, or on the face of it if you’re in the mood for a terrible pun, this means people across Tayside and Fife will be shunning their shavers for a month all in the name of charity.
The good cause is ARCHIE which, in partnership with The Courier, is going to raise £2 million to help deliver a new world-class children’s operating theatre suite at the heart of Tayside Children’s Hospital.
The new suite, which will cost a total of £6 million, includes two new paediatric operating theatres, a welcoming and friendly environment for sick youngsters and their families.
Helpfully, £4 million has already been secured in NHS Tayside funding, which will pay for the initial construction, equipment and staff.
The final third of the cash will really “make the difference”, say ARCHIE bosses, by transforming the new unit with child-friendly surroundings, equipment and specialised staff that can’t be funded by the health board.
I’m delighted to say we’ve got some great backing from across the political spectrum too, including Scotland’s new Health Secretary, Shona Robison. The Dundee East MSP has a particularly strong local interest in the project and has followed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon supporting the campaign.
Another senior politician with a strong connection to the project by virtue of her Dundee roots is Labour’s shadow Health Secretary, Jenny Marra.
We’ve also collected backing from Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Scottish Liberal Democrat boss Willie Rennie and former Health Secretary Alex Neil.
All three gamely posed for photos when cornered in Holyrood, with Ruth even buying her own beard for the occasion!
Alas I left it too late to grab Shona and Jenny but there will be plenty of opportunity for silly photos along the way.
Three out of our five backers can’t grow beards for the occasion, I hear you cry! Well, fear not for this is where our handy donations system comes into play.
Basically, it’s time for folk to put out their money when their mouths are still showing!
I’ve written about this before but it’s worth reiterating in this instance.
Ninewells Hospital saved the life of my niece when she was just weeks old.
The incredibly specialised care, love and attention she received while there was incredible. It transformed her from the most tiny, vulnerable baby girl I’ve ever seen into a wonderful, bouncy, bubbly pain in the backside!
This fundraising effort can only improve what’s already in place.
Beards for Bairns raised a respectable £10,000 in 2012 in Aberdeen but has now gone from strength to strength, pulling in more than £150,000 this year.
Organisers are hoping Tayside and Fife will take the idea to their hearts and faces.
There are going to be some hairy journalists and photographers hanging around Courier offices over the next month and hopefully there will be some grizzly folks out and about across the local area who are backing our campaign with the same enthusiasm of our politicians.
There is already form for this you just need to look at the success of Movember to realise growing facial hair is a fun and effective way of raising money for a great cause.
Indeed, during a conversation with someone from the moustached crusaders fighting prostate cancer, the similarities between the two campaigns cropped up.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “I’m always going to say it’s a rip-off of us but I don’t mind. It’s for Ninewells and that’s brilliant.”
My friend is right. This is a wonderful cause.
Anything that can be done to make the lives of wee ones receiving treatment, and indeed their families, a little bit easier should be supported 100%.
Please do.
Oh, and expect photographic updates!
See more at www.archiefoundation.org.uk.