Golspie man's leap year birthday boost for Hamish Ross Memorial Fund
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Sutherland folk are continuing to support a memorial fund set up in memory of a Rogart teenager who died suddenly last year.
Golspie resident Kevin Macnicol is the latest fundraiser for the Hamish Ross Memorial Fund, which is being administered through Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
And the fund is also one of the charities that will benefit from the Run the Peaks Challenge.
Leap year baby Mr Macnicol, who turned 36 on February 29, asked friends and relatives not to give him any gifts for his birthday but instead to donate money to the fund.
The fundraiser is open for three weeks and raised £245 in its first two days.
It is the third year Mr Macnicol, a general operative with Global Infrastructure, has used his birthday to raised money for good causes.
He and mum Betty donated £300 to the British Heart Foundation last year and previously he has raised funds for Cancer Research.
Young Hamish Ross died suddenly aged 15 on July 23, 2019.
His parents Donald and June Ross set up the memorial fund with the aim of funding CRY to undertake screening of Golspie High School Pupils for undetected heart disease.
Mr Macnicol said he knew Hamish through karting - the teen was a rising star in the karting world.
After launching his fundraiser, he received a message from Mrs Ross, who wrote: “I just want to thank you on behalf of Donald and I for supporting CRY. We really appreciate it and it means a lot to us. We are very touched by your gesture. Thank you so much.”
Previous events which raised money for the fund include a Golspie High School soup, sweet and songs lunch and a bonus ball raffle run by Brora man Alan Mackay.
And the Hamish Ross Fund will also be boosted by money raised by Run the Peaks. The challenge sees a team of four attempt on July 27 to scale the highest peaks in England (Scafell Pike); Scotland (Ben Nevis); and Wales (Snowdon), running the distance between them.
On average 12 young people, who show no prior symptoms, die a week in the UK from undiagnosed heart conditions. Support the fundraising efforts by visiting Mr Macnicol’s page on Facebook or go to Virginmoneygiving and use the search term Run the Peaks.
