Laurieston couple pay for day at Strathcarron Hospice on wedding date

Gordon Russell (42) married partner Sam (36) on Saturday, July 25 in a private beach ceremony in Crear.

To mark the occasion, the pair chose that date to sponsor a day’s care at Strathcarron Hospice where daily running costs come to £12,900.

The staggering amount the Laurieston residents donated to the Fankerton-based facility was raised via a range of events held over the past year, beginning with a gruelling nine-day bike ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

Family, friends, colleagues and Polmont Hillwalking Club – of which Gordon is chairman – also gave generously to various bag packing events and bucket collections.

To finally reach their target, Gordon arranged for teams of cyclists from around the country to cycle between 50 and 100 miles to jointly replicate the length of the UK.

Falkirk man Gordon, who works in compliance for Barrhead Travel, said: “I cycled from London to Paris in 2017 for Strathcarron and raised about £3000.

“I always said the next thing I’d do would be a lot bigger and I cycled the length of Britain.

“I started off thinking if I could raise £5000 or £10,000 that would be really good and when I found out you could sponsor a day, I thought that would be a good thing to aim for.

“There was no particular reason why. It’s just a really good place and you always know someone who knows someone who has used it.”

Gordon and Denny woman Sam were introduced to one another through a mutual friend in 2017.

They say their fundraising drive wouldn’t have been possible without the help of several others.

Gordon continued: “Thank you to the staff and customers from Barrhead Travel in Falkirk, the hillwalking club members and our friends and family.

“A big thanks to Claire Macdonald at Strathcarron. She’s the one who helped organise the bag packing.

“Without her support, we wouldn’t have gained that amount of money. She was excellent.”

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