Highland
Cross Latest News
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Highland
Cross 2019 - Saturday 22 June 2019 |
Highland Cross 2019 – 22 June
The
application deadline has now passed and balloting has been completed
as the
event was heavily oversubscribed this year. There were over 150
applicants (over 50 teams) who were unsuccessful in getting a
team in this year’s event. All
successful/unsuccessful teams have been notified on
15 February 2019.
If
you are interested in requesting a team entry in Highland Cross 2020, please
mark Monday 2nd September 2019 in your diary. Please
email us early
on that day to register. See also
our updated FAQs for more information.
Highland Cross 2019
Merchandise
The Sign
Centre, 33 Harbour Road, Inverness, IV1 1UG (tel: 01463 716060)
produce Highland Cross t-shirts, sweatshirts etc each year prior to the event. An
order form is available here.
The
following are statements from Charities benefiting from Highland
Cross 2019 fundraising
Birchwood Highland
Birchwood Highland works as the leading provider of mental health
recovery in the Highlands. We work with individuals to increase
their capacity to live independently, regain socialisation skills
and feel part of the community, thus reducing feelings of isolation
in line with our mission statement of promoting “ Independence,
Inclusion and Recovery”.
Birchwood Highland Recovery Centre is a purpose built care facility
with residents living in their flats and bedsits. Staff support
people to build self-confidence and adopt lifestyles that improve
their overall well-being and enable them to self-manage their
enduring mental health symptoms.
Maintaining a modern fit for purpose building is a key aspect to
providing an environment conducive to mental health recovery. Whilst
we have striven to ensure that we have met this on an ongoing basis,
since the Recovery Centre opened in 2008, the building is now at the
stage where further modernisation and major refurbishment would be
of great benefit.
In consultation with the residents and staff, we have an ambitious
refurbishment and modernisation plan which would be of huge benefit
to all the people we support each day and, would we feel, impact
positively on people as they engage in their mental health recovery.
A grant from the Highland Cross would enable us to begin the
re-modernisation of the Recovery Centre.
Cantraybridge College
Cantraybridge is Highland’s unique further education college for
young adults with additional support needs, and a crucial element in
the educational and care landscape in our region. Most of our
students have a learning disability and/or autism. We’re rightly
ambitious that our young people fulfil their potential and become
valued and engaged members of their communities.
Our minibus is essential. We use it to transport students to/from
college; for educational outings and to attend health, social and
leisure activities. We also use it to take young people on holidays,
especially those who don’t have family.
Sadly, our current minibus is dilapidated and becoming very
expensive in terms of repairs – money that could be far better spent
on services for young people. We’d also like to be able to offer
some new services to people who use wheelchairs, but our current
minibus cannot be converted for wheelchair users. We’d also like to
welcome more nursery/school groups to our 19 acre campus to enjoy
our outdoor educational facilities - and learn where their food
comes from! Older people’s groups come to Cantraybridge to enjoy our
scenery and café, but often don’t have transport, so a reliable bus
would help us to bring these groups to enjoy our campus too.
A gift of a minibus would be a prayer answered, potentially bringing
immediate and sustained benefits to a range of disadvantaged people
across Highland.
We are deeply grateful to the Highland Cross selection panel for
considering our application.
New Start Highland
We are seeking the assistance of the Highland Cross to purchase a
new sprinter van which will help to deliver essential furniture and
starter packs to the most vulnerable people in the Highlands.
The recent damaging welfare reforms, including the troublesome
rollout of universal credit in the Highlands and the significant
cuts to Highland Council’s budget means that less and less support
is being given to the most crisis hit members of our communities.
To combat this New Start Highland will collect over 3,000 loads of
furniture from members of the public over the next year and
redistribute them to people who need them most.
By helping to purchase a new sprinter van the Highland Cross will
contribute to a service which will help people avoid eviction and
homelessness and provide hope of a better future to thousands of
individuals and families over the years to come.
Together we are helping fellow Highlanders lead better lives and
making our part of the world a better place to live, both now and
into the future.
Puffin Hydrotherapy Pool
The Puffin Hydrotherapy Pool is a registered charity (No. SC133596)
dedicated to the provision of specialist hydrotherapy services for
people of all ages in the Highlands, particularly those who have
been recommended for attention by a health professional. It is
located adjacent to the Highland Rheumatology Unit in Ferry Road,
Dingwall.
The categories of users include:-
1.. People with acute injuries and following surgery for whom
hydrotherapy will speed rehabilitation.
2.. People with self-care needs in relation to long term conditions
such as arthritis, back problems, stroke or multiple sclerosis.
3.. People with learning disabilities who can find attendance a
valuable therapeutic experience.
4.. People with severe disabilities who attend with the help and
support of carers.
In each case a physiotherapist will assess the individual and tailor
a programme of exercises for them to perform in the specially heated
pool where they are supervised by qualified staff and lifeguards.
68 sessions are held per week and approximately 32,000 users attend
per annum, all of whom derive benefit and comfort from the
experience.
The Puffin Hydrotherapy Pool has been operating for 20 years and
some plant components require replacement and updating. They include
an Air Handling Unit, Filter Pots and a Water Purification Plant,
the total cost of which is £60,000. The most urgent element of those
is the Filter Pots which we have already had replaced at a cost of
£20,000 drawn from our company capital reserves. The Board are
currently revising maintenance contracts for the plant as the new
components are more sophisticated than the ones they replace.
Currently the Pool derives income from user attendance charges,
small grants from NHS Highland and Highland Council, income from the
Charity Shop operated by the Company, some investment income from
capital reserves (now reduced as mentioned above), donations, and
returns from an annual sponsored fun run and Christmas raffle. The
income barely covers our running costs but the Board take pride in
keeping our user charges as low as possible as many of our users are
in a low personal income bracket. Each member of the Board is a
volunteer and receives no remuneration for their services.
Special Needs Action Project (SNAP)
SNAP provides leisure and recreation opportunities for over 80 young
people, who all have substantial special needs. We provide After
School Clubs, Holiday Leisure Schemes, Saturday outings and Weekend
Breaks.
SNAP aims to increase the socialisation, self-esteem and independent
skills of our young people. With the help of our skilled and
dedicated staff and volunteers, the young people can access
activities that other people take for granted, e.g. going to the
theatre, out for meals, swimming and forest walks.
The families of the young people with special needs also benefit
from much needed respite from the relentless responsibilities of
care.
0ur application is to replace our minibus, which was donated to us
by the Highland Cross in 2012. The proposed replacement minibus
would have similar capacity to our existing vehicle but would be
less expensive to operate.
The minibus is an essential part of the SNAP Services and is used
every day. It helps families by transporting the young people to and
from home, accessing various facilities and activities within the
community as well as further afield within Scotland.
Our young people have a strong sense of ownership of our minibus,
naming it SNAPPIE. The benefits to each individual are considerable
as it develops independence away from their family, the opportunity
to try something new as well as being part of a group. SNAPPIE is
more than just transportation to us, it is an important part of our
young people’s SNAP experience.
John Gordon, Struy
It is with great sadness that I have to inform our Community of the
death of John Gordon of Struy, Strathglass.
John died last week after a long illness.
John's wife, Lillian, was one of the first folk to volunteer to run
a water stop for the initial "Midsummer Madathon" and every year the
grass in front of their house has hosted a water stop for our event.
John was always there supporting the event until his illness
prevented him.
He will be remembered as a Highland Gentleman in every sense of the
word. Quiet and unassuming but committed to his family and
community and to the ideals of Highland Cross.
He will be sadly missed.
Calum Munro MBE
Organising Secretary and Co-Founder of Highland Cross
20 March 2019
Highland Cross 2018
Highland Cross breaks the £5 million barrier with another fantastic
fundraising year – 11th record in the last 13 years!
The
record figure raised in 2017 from Highland Cross participants was
£280,346 but this has been surpassed by Highland Cross 2018
competitors raising an incredible total of
£307,566!
This now
means that Highland Cross has raised over £5 million over the
36 years of the event.
On 22
November 2018, the 5 principal charities received presentations:
-
Abriachan Forest Trust
received £26,500
to create a small respite centre
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Blythswood Care
received £29,330 to purchase a vehicle to support its foodbank work
-
Highland Hospice
received £20,625 for a new vehicle to support their retail operation
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The Oxygen Works
received £40,306 for a new adapted minibus
-
Skye & Lochalsh Mental Health Association
received £43,563 to purchase a van and storage containers to support
their retail operation
In
addition to the primary causes, the participants’ success will also
allow some smaller grants totalling over £145,000 to be distributed
to charities across Highland over the next month. The
Organisers would once again like to thank competitors, sponsors and
volunteers for their continued support of Highland Cross.
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TOP FUNDRAISING TEAMS 2018 |
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Top 10 |
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Team Amount Raised |
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Team Name |
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Competitor Names |
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1 |
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£15,362.83 |
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No Strokes Today |
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William Gray |
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Richard McGrail |
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Allan Maguire |
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2 |
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£12,782.06 |
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Lovat Lung Busters |
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Simon Lovat |
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Jack Fraser |
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Max Konig |
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3 |
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£5,483.69 |
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Ishkabars, AKA Teuchters Three |
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Hamish Salvesen |
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Neil Haddow |
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Oliver Salvesen |
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4 |
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£5,360.00 |
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Over The Hill |
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Steven Scott |
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Hector Mackay |
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Alistair Douglas |
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5 |
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£3,272.55 |
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Five 11 |
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Lindsay McCallum |
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Andrew Smith |
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Raymond Wright |
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6 |
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£2,770.00 |
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Spot The Builders |
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Gordon Simpson |
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Andrew Philip |
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John Morrison |
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7 |
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£2,623.55 |
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Culloden Colts |
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James Maclean |
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Peter Roska |
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Brian Philip |
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8 |
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£2,565.00 |
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Squeek & Creak |
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David Whitby |
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Calum Miller |
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Frazer Grant |
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9 |
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£2,522.49 |
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Doug's Disciples |
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David Steele |
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John Scott |
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Steven Setford |
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10 |
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£2,427.00 |
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A Projector, Erector and a Director |
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David Kilshaw |
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James Cooper |
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Scott Gillespie |
Highland Cross on Facebook
Highland Cross now has a Facebook page -
www.facebook.com/thehighlandcross
It is full of news about the event, important dates for the 2019
event, information about the folk who make it happen and the
charities we support and who support us. There are a lot of comments
about the event being posted.
The comment below was left by Nigel MacGillivary one of this year’s
participants – he really grasps what the Cross is all about!
"...truly is a unique community event from the coffee stall at the
start to the post race buffet and everything before, in between and
after."
Highland Cross 2018
Highland
Cross 2018 took place on Saturday 23 June.
The full list of
individual results can be found here.
Photography
Photography from
Highland Cross 2018 is available here:
|
The Highland Cross
