Get on your bike
Cllrs have a way to go in Poppy challenge
A councillors’ cycle challenge in aid of Poppy Scotland will have to move up a gear – after raising less than one per cent of its fundraising target.
South Lanarkshire councillors announced last month that they would be teaming up to cycle 1918 miles to earn £1918 in sponsorship money for the veterans’ charity.
The team even has its own section on the 1918 Poppy Pledge fundraising page at bit. ly/poppypledge
However, the website shows that to date they have raised just £10 – 0.5 per cent of their target.
This came from a single donation one month ago, on August 27.
The fundraising drive was launched with considerable fanfare as a big group effort involving councillors from all parties, but so far only councillors Mark Horsham and Mark Mcgeever appear to have properly signed up for the challenge on the website.
With just 45 days to go until Armistice Day, councillors will have to get their fundraising feet moving.
The Advertiser told earlier this month how councillors had accepted the special fundraising challenge to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War.
In a cross party act of remembrance, they put aside their political differences and signed up as a group to take part in the Poppy Scotland 1918 Poppy Pledge.
Elected members will use an exercise bike on loan from Origin Fitness Limited and set up at the council headquarters in Hamilton.
When asked about the single £10 donation, Councillor Mark Horsham, the council’s veteran’s spokesperson who initiated the challenge, said that the fundraising hadn’t yet begun.
He explained: “I am delighted that councillors from all parties have come together to support this challenge, which not only aims to raise £1918 for Poppy Scotland but also to help us reflect on the values that we hold common – values that we are free to enjoy due to the sacrifice of those in the past.
“In advance of the fundraising stage that will take place after the October school holiday week, we are also aiming to pedal 1918 miles on the exercise bike to raise awareness of this cause, and councillors have been working hard to add to this effort whenever they have had any spare moments. In the three weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, we will be moving the bike to the main entrance area at council headquarters to allow anyone else who wishes to help with this to do so.
“At that stage we will also be starting the fundraising to gather the £1918 for this very worthy cause.
“We have been heartened already by the messages of support we have received and, although the fundraising will not begin until those final three weeks, if anyone wishes to donate prior to that they can do so online through our 1918 Poppy Pledge page at bit. ly/poppypledge.”
Meanwhile, a number of events are planned to mark the end of the First World War.
A service will take place in Hamilton’s Garden of Remembrance on Saturday, November 3. The following day, a Festival of Remembrance will be held in Hamilton Town House.