By Colin Grant

THE largest donation to our campaign so far was handed in last week at Yorkhill Hospital.
Greig Anderson, who in August cycled the length of Britain to raise funds for our appeal, brought a cheque for an amazing £15,288.32.
Nearly £12,000 of that was pledged on his website by sponsors during and after he pedalled nearly 1000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
The rest came from an auction, raffle and party night he organised once he was back home in Giffnock, on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Greig’s cheque was accepted on behalf of our appeal by two patients at Yorkhill’s physiotherapy department — Jamielee Fisher (13) from Glasgow who is being treated for joint problems and nine-year-old Eilidh Baker from East Kilbride, who suffers from chronic arthritis.
Praise
Afterwards, Shona Cardle, executive director of Yorkhill Children’s Foundation, the charity which supports the work of the hospital, was full of praise for Greig’s efforts.
She said, “It shows how generous Sunday Post readers are when someone like Greig is prepared to give 15 days of his life to undertake such a mammoth challenge.
“The fact he did it with no support is even more remarkable. We can’t thank him enough.”
Greig, who styled himself “A fat bloke on a bike”, even giving his website the title fatblokeonabike.co.uk added, “I really can’t believe how much money eventually came in. My original target was £10,000 and I wasn’t sure I’d even reach that. But once I got going and more folk heard about my journey the website got busier and busier.”
When asked how he kept going over such a gruelling course he replied, “Mentally I kept reminding myself the money was going to such an important, deserving cause. Physically, I ate a huge breakfast every morning and enjoyed a huge dinner every night along with three pints of Guinness. It was no problem keeping my strength up.
“However, I must be the only person to cycle 980 miles and end up putting ON weight!”

IF YOU have a special reason for contributing to or raising funds for our appeal then we’d like to hear from you. 
It could be that you’d like to thank caring staff for the treatment they’ve provided in your hour of need. Or perhaps a relative spent time in one of Scotland’s children’s hospitals and the experience has left a lasting impression on your family’s life.
Whatever the reason, please let us know. 
We’d be delighted to share your experiences with our readers. And, who knows, it may inspire others to follow in your fund-raising footsteps.

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