This
is what your hard work has been for
By Craig Robertson
WHEN superstar
actor Ewan McGregor cut the first turf in a field high above
Balloch, Loch Lomondside, on Wednesday it marked the end of a lot of hard work — and the beginning of a whole lot more.
 Ewan, along with pop singer Sharleen Spiteri and little Robyn
Watterson, were the stars on the day that work began on the construction of Scotland’s second children’s hospice, but it was a role they shared with everyone who has helped raise the money to get it started.
It was a glorious day in more ways than one. The sun shone, the site for the new hospice looked stunning and, most importantly of all, a dream came one step closer to reality.
In little over a year, the doors of Robin House will open for the first time — and there was no mistaking how much that meant to everyone gathered at Ledrishbeg Farm.
CHAS chief executive Agnes Malone swung between fighting back tears and giggling like a schoolgirl, Sharleen admitted she couldn’t believe the day had finally arrived and Ewan simply couldn’t stop grinning.
Yes, it was a big day.
The “family”
After the ceremonial turf was cut, there was a small celebration for what Agnes likes to call the “CHAS family”, hosted and paid for by the nearby Cameron House Hotel.
We’re proud to say that family includes The Sunday Post, the only newspaper to be invited along, and we got the chance to chat to everyone involved in this amazing project.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ewan told me.
“But I was always confident this day would happen and it’s fantastic to see it.
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 Ewan and Sharleen get to work.
Sharleen chats with another
CHAS family member, Daniel Morrison.
Ewan at Cameron House Hotel with
15-year-old CHAS family member Sarah Amato.
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“This will ease the pressure on Rachel House so much and will mean twice as many beds are available to the children who need them. Rachel House is full every night of the year and the new hospice will make such a difference.
“It’s been an incredible effort to raise the funds to build the hospice — and a big thanks to The Sunday Post for their part in that — now we need to keep going and get the money to run it.
Shenanigans
“I’ve never doubted it would happen, even through all the shenanigans about planning permission.”
Ewan has been a regular visitor to Rachel House for seven years and his commitment to the hospice cause and his affection for the children and their families is clearly genuine.
“It’s an extraordinary place and you just do what you can for them. It’s great fun too, I always enjoy myself when I go. It’s not the dour, sad place people might think. Far from it.”
Ewan also gave us a fun exclusive of his on-the-spot plan to celebrate the two hospices being open — a mass sponsored motorbike ride from Kinross to Balloch. He envisages all his mates getting on their leathers and riding from Rachel House to Robin House (all within the speed limit of course!). Sharleen immediately nominated herself for a pillion ride with the leader of the pack!
Every visit to Rachel House and every bit of publicity for the hospice movement means breaking into hugely busy schedules for Ewan and Sharleen, although they’re only too happy to do it.
The day before they’d been in London together launching a new range of exclusive Pringle T-shirts whose profits will be split between CHAS and MediCinema — a charity that brings cinema into hospitals.
Ewan was sporting a beard that means another
Star Wars movie is in the offing — he starts filming his third stint as Obe Wan Kenobe in five weeks time. This weekend he is in Cannes promoting his new movie
Young Adam, which he filmed on location in Scotland.
Good baby
Sharleen has been working hard too, despite giving birth to daughter Misty Kyd eight months ago, and her band Texas have a new album out in September.
She’s been taking Misty into the recording studios and says she loves it.
“She’s such a good baby that she’s no trouble and I can take her with me when I’m recording. She just loves the lights when she’s down there and it’s great to see her following them and laughing.”
Becoming a mum hasn’t changed Sharleen’s dedication to Rachel House — she was already fully committed to the hospice — but it does give her greater appreciation of how important Rachel House is for the mums and dads that use it.
“I know how difficult and tiring it can be with a healthy baby, but I can’t imagine how hard it must be for the parents of children in Rachel House. It is exhausting getting children in and out of cars, never mind bigger kids with wheelchairs. It is really physically taxing.
“As a mum I get tired and need a break, so I know how important Rachel House is for parents. The new hospice we started on today means twice as many will have the chance of that break.”
Surprise
There was a surprise in store for Sharleen when she visited the new site for the first time on Wednesday — she discovered she used to live just around the corner.
“I hadn’t realised it was so close to where I lived. It’s amazing. I used to play in this field, although I didn’t know its name. That’s why it didn’t register when CHAS told me where the hospice was going to be. That’s so strange.
“But it is more amazing to think that things are moving so quickly. In no time at all they’ll be building on the site and we’ll have our second hospice. It’s just wonderful.”
And so say all of us. |
You can e-mail us at:
hospice@sundaypost.com
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