Perth musicians perform at Rock the Catwalk for forces charity

Feb 19 2010 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

MUSICIANS drafted in to perform at Rock the Catwalk say it’s a real badge of honour to bedoing their bit for armed forces charity, Help for Heroes.

While avant garde percussion outfit Impulse will be providing entertainment when models are off-stage at the Perth Concert Hall event, covers band LMS has been primed to deliver a diverse soundtrack for runway action.

But for LMS vocalist, Gemma Bayne (25), involvement in the McEwens of Perth fundraiser that aims to assist the rehabilitation of injured troops, is on a more personal note.

A civil engineer who sings with LMS at weddings, Ms Bayne is also an army cadet instructor with the Black Watch’s Alma Company, having enlisted as a cadet herself at age 14.

About 20 per cent of the young cadets she puts through their paces become full-time soldiers, so with the spiralling casualty rate in Afghanistan, tragic news from the front line is almost inevitable.

When she received a text message one day last year from the Help for Heroes-funded Selly Oaks hospital in Birmingham, her heart understandably skipped a beat.

“The beds at the hospital have phones next to them, so the text read that it was from Lance Corporal Glynn Davidson – I thought, ‘oh no, please let him be all right’,” she said.

The 24-year-old Black Watch soldier, a former Alma Company comrade and close friend, had been on patrol in Afghanistan when an improvised bomb exploded.

“Glynn had broken his spine in three places, broken several ribs and suffered lacerations all over his body,” she said.

“He was in Selly Oaks for three weeks and had to have a back brace fitted. After that he got sent home but was also in a rehabilitation centre, I think for about six months in total.

“And now he’s back with his regiment here in Scotland – so he’s one of the lucky ones.”

According to the Casualty Monitor website, the total number of British casualties in Afghanistan since 2006 may now be approaching 7,000.

Ms Bayne said she agreed with campaigners who believed that the government should boost funding directed to the rehabilitation of military personnel injured in the line of duty.

“Definitely, as considering what they do for us out there, there’s really not enough assistance for when they come back home,” she said.

A current H4H priority is establishing Personal Recovery Centres across the UK, with the first, the 12-bed Mark Wright GC House at the Erskine Edinburgh Home, opening last August.

The centre’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Christopher Edwards, will be attending next month’s H4H Perth fundraiser, Rock the Catwalk, which is being driven by primary sponsor, McEwens of Perth .

Perthshire’s H4H county coordinator, Mike Dickinson, said that he and McEwens’ Georgina Bullough and her husband, John, had set a realistic fundraising target of £10,000.

“But I’m fully confident that we can do better than that,” he said.

Rock the Catwalk - a Show for Heroes, at Perth Concert Hall, 7.30pm on Saturday, March 13. Tickets start at £14 adult, £9 under-16, available from Perth Concert Hall on 01738 621031 or at www.horsecross.co.uk