Walk 14 When Robert Burns wrote “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, gang aft agley”, I very much doubt he was thinking of my challenge this season or the Hospice. However following the recent, very successful and enjoyable, Virtual Burns Supper, The Bard wasn’t far from my thoughts.

On Saturday 6th February, I was joined by Hospice ambassador Greg Anderson and Gordon McHugh. This was Gordon’s 7th walk of the season, he has been a phenomenal support to me throughout my journey and although I won’t always show it, I am truly grateful to him for this.

I first reached out to Greg back in October and he selected this game as it involved his team, Motherwell, so it meant we would both have an interest in getting to Celtic Park. Although I have known of Greg for many years, through the Hospice’s annual golf day and from his amazing customer satisfaction driven events company Blue Parrot Event Ltd, I have never been in his company for a prolonged period of time. Thankfully this wasn’t an issue, his chat was great during the 2 hours 15 minutes walking and it was a pleasure getting to know more about him and his love for the Hospice. The only disappointment on the day was that we couldn’t fulfil the plans we had discussed. In October we spoke about food and drinks and enjoying the game in different ends of the stadium, sadly those plans did “gang aft agley” but we both agreed when it is safe to do so we will organise a catch up.

Although Blue Parrot have been impacted, like us all, by the pandemic due to the majority of their work being in the hospitality sector, this hasn’t slowed Greg down. This was displayed during the walk by the various business calls he received – with one as far afield as China! This is because he also runs The Sanitiser Guys Ltd, who provide PPE and hi tech sanitiser equipment, and through Blue Parrot runs the platform that hosts the Hospice’s online silent auction. You can find all the amazing items currently available at https://bit.ly/36wOxRR The item that caught my eye is the £1000 voucher donated by Blue Parrot for wedding or event equipment. I have missed various big birthdays throughout lockdown so I’m looking forward to that long overdue family gathering or party. This item would be perfect for that.

I’d like to thank Greg, for his company on the day and his fundraising efforts and again thank Gordon for his continued friendship and support.

The next walk is on Saturday 27th February when I will be joined by my cousin, John Haughey.

Stay safe

Brian.