Salute to Perthshire fundraisers

Jan 28 2011 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

Salute to Perthshire fundraisers

PERTHSHIRE Help for Heroes (H4H) county coordinator, Mike Dickinson, has saluted the valiant efforts of fundraisers and supporters across the Big County.

In recent weeks the Pitlochry-based representative has been spreading himself thin on manoeuvres, collecting cheques from proceeds of endeavours and promoting forthcoming events.

Last Thursday he gratefully accepted about £4,200 on behalf of H4H, a charity supporting wounded veterans, from Posy Moody and Samantha Peck who organised an “H4H Hoolie” at Strathallan Castle.

“Unfortunately due to freezing weather and pipes, the venue was changed to Perth’s Bluesky Experiences at the last moment,” he said.

“So my thanks to James and Kate England who rose to the challenge to provide a venue to accommodate 140 people and a ceilidh band, and the night was a huge success which raised approximately £4,200.”

Also on Thursday, Mr Dickinson met members of Fair City close harmony group, Spectrum, including musical director, Ron Cochrane, and business manager, Peter Cargill, to accept a cheque for £2300.

The amount was raised at a benefit concert at St Ninian's Cathedral last November, where singers performed a diverse set, putting their own spin on material by composers ranging from Bach to Lennon and McCartney.

“It was a tremendous evening of entertainment enjoyed by more than 100 people and my sincere thanks go to all the singers, as well as Peter Cargill and Ron Cochrane for organising the event,” he said.

Last week, Mr Dickinson also collected a cheque for more than £1450 from a squad of air cadets with 38 F Perth, the proceeds of their 70-mile fundraising cycle around nine Perthshire war memorials.

Ringleader Ryan Dickson, a Perth High School pupil who is enlisting in the Royal Navy with a view to becoming a pilot, undertook the mission with pals, Niall Swinnerton, James Williamson and Alex Green.

Mr Dickinson said he was constantly amazed by the determined efforts of residents across Perthshire, who went above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of H4H.

“I’m equally grateful about the consistently high level of support all of these projects receive,” he said.

A recent example was the £1700 locals handed to Black Watch 3 Scots members of Team Tartan Cassino who plan to cycle 1750 miles in 14 days to raise £50,000 for veterans’ charities in March.

Despite atrocious weather conditions confining many residents to quarters, the sizeable sum was collected by team members, including leader Sgt Richard Clark, at a supermarket event in Perth this month.

“It was remarkable as the weather was really bad so we weren’t expecting a big turn-out,” said the Military Cross recipient.

Another forthcoming high-profile event is Soul for Heroes, a concert at Perth Concert Hall on April 22, with a band fronted by John ‘Frisco’ Crabbe, and support from Lois Alexandra and her quartet.

“It will be a fantastic evening performed by highly talented musicians whose past and present members play for Tom Jones, Brian May, Robbie Williams, Strictly and Wogan's house band, just to mention a few,” Said Mr Dickinson.

“We hope to have a ‘big name’ MC on the night and members of our own military, just to say thank-you.”

Support the Black Watch cyclists at www.tartancassino.com and find out more about the talent performing at Soul for Heroes at www.myspace.com/friscocrabbe and www.lois-jazz.co.uk