The Sunday Post: Hospice News

Runrig jet into our hospice campaign

By Kathryn Mainds

RUNRIG celebrated 30 years of rock last night in spectacular style before a sell-out crowd at Stirling Castle.

And one of the highlights of the night, a fly-past courtesy of RAF Leuchars saw Ł2000 being raised for our CHAS campaign into the bargain.

With this being the band’s 30th year of live performances, they wanted to do something different at their concert and came up with an idea that just seemed to take wings!

The members of Runrig and RAF personnel
take to a Tornado jet fighter to pose with their
cheque for our campaign.

Laughed

Flight Lieutenant Keith Wardlaw, from RAF Leuchars, smiled, “I got a phone call from Runrig saying they wanted a fly-past at their Stirling Castle concert.

“I laughed at first and then thought about the history of 43 (Fighter) Squadron, who were actually formed in Stirling in 1916 and thought it would be nice if they did it.

“But I had to okay it first with the Station Commander and then the MoD and they seemed happy with the idea.

“I got back to the band and they said they’d be willing to pay for it so they agreed to write a cheque for a charity of our choice, and gave us Ł2000 for The Sunday Post’s CHAS campaign.”

RAF Leuchars have been huge supporters of our appeal, raising Ł50,000 for CHAS last year and on Friday Runrig took time out from rehearsals to present the cheque.

Runrig spokesman, David Ross, said, “We are committed to helping good causes, but CHAS is the one we want to help at the moment.

“Unfortunately due to our busy schedule, we’ve never made it to Rachel House, but would like to go in the future.”

Runrig drummer Iain Bayne, felt very much at home as he stood in Leuchars airfield — he’s from St Andrews, just five minutes down the road.

He said, “I always found living near Leuchars really exciting with all the jets landing and taking off and I’m really grateful that they could do this for us.

“CHAS is a very worthwhile and important charity and I’m delighted to contribute something towards it.”

Having been part of Runrig for 23 years he’s also delighted that the band are still going strong.

He beamed, “It’s absolutely brilliant when you consider that most bands don’t last five years!”
Amazement

RAF Leuchars were equally pleased to play their part at this memorable concert. Flight Lieutenant Gaz Littlechild was chosen to navigate one of the Tornado jets with Flt. Lt. Ian Percival piloting the plane, while the other crew was comprised of Com. Lauren Rouchon (pilot) and Flt. Lt. Neil Whithead (navigator).

The 43 (Fighter) Squadron, who have patrolled no-fly zones in Iraq, agreed to fly over the main stage before doing a “teardrop” manoeuvre to come back over the crowd towards the stage at a speed of around 500 mph, 1000 feet up.

You can e-mail us at: hospice@sundaypost.com