Kind acts are an antidote to the horrors of Ukraine
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
COLUMN: The Postie Notes by Pete Malone
How quickly the world turns. My Hogmanay article ended with hopes for a better New Year and a more normal future.
Three months later, as I write this column, we stand on the edge of the abyss peering at a potential World War III.
The news from Ukraine is truly appalling and it’s hard to comprehend the mindset that condones the destruction of a Holocaust memorial and the bombing of a maternity hospital.
The images we see on our television screens daily are reminiscent of a World War II blitzkrieg and it is hard not to be moved by the suffering of the refugees fleeing their homes and facing an uncertain future.
Therefore it was reassuring to be reminded that awful things can be balanced by true acts of kindness.
A day or two ago, two young Englishmen visited Bettyhill Post Office. They were on a charity trip round the North Coast 500 tourism route and had been set tasks to complete along the way.
The first was pretty easy to help with, as they were looking for £1 notes which are no longer in circulation in the south and we had a couple which we gave them.
They also needed to film themselves playing bagpipes and had almost given up hope of achieving this challenge.
A couple of phone calls later and Murdo Gordon, paramedic and piper, arrived with his pipes and allowed both to have a blow. He then helped them get a tune out of the pipes as he fingered the chanter while they blew.
They left extremely happy, sure that none of the other groups would have been able to complete this task. Murdo was willing to do this as a kindness to strangers.
The second reminder came about because I act as a sort of elderly, eccentric uncle to two young girls, Martha and Islay, whose mother is a native of Bettyhill.
They love coming here on holiday for the beach, the swimming pool and the sweets from the post office.
We set each other codes and puzzles to crack and during their last visit I set a treasure hunt for them around the village.
They are typical young girls aged 11 and 9, but after going to a peace rally in York with their mother and hearing about the plight of the Ukrainian refugees they decided to do something positive to help.
Martha collected signatures at her school of everyone who wanted to help raise money. then presented it to her head teacher who agreed they could do some fund raising.
She and her friends decided to bake for Ukraine. Martha made posters and put them up around school and she and Islay baked yellow lemon cakes and blue and yellow meringues - the Ukrainian flag colours.
On the day, so many people had been baking they had enough for the sale and a tuck shop the next day. They raised £555 pounds which they donated to helping Ukrainian refugees.
At their age I could hardly organise my schoolbag let alone something like this.
I am not originally from these parts but I have always found the Highlanders I know quick to help when some one is in need or in trouble, and in Bettyhill a helping hand is often extended before you ask for it.
It is comforting to know that even when you take the girls out of the Highlands that you don’t take the Highlands out of the girls. Oh, and if they read this - I like lemon cake!
Pete Malone is a postman based at Bettyhill.
