Bar’s raffle prize is strum-thing special
It’s a guitar signed by local hero Paolo Nutini
A guitar signed by singer Paolo Nutini will help Paisley charity volunteers build a nursery for needy kids.
The team at The Cave pub received the stunning guitar signed by the Paisley star to use in their raffle with proceeds helping to fund a mercy mission to Malawi.
Bar owner Jen Sloan was gifted the guitar by a member of the public and wanted to put it to good use.
She went out on a limb and asked Paolo’s father, Alfredo Nutini, who owns Castelvecchi chip shop in the town, if he could get the instrument signed by his son.
Her idea was to raffle the item in aid of her employee Laura Wood, who will be embarking on an 8,000 mile trip to East Africa next week as part of the Classrooms for Malawi initiative.
Jen said she was over the moon when Alfredo delivered the news that Paolo had kindly obliged.
She said “Paolo came in last week with the signed guitar and also made a donation to Classrooms for Malawi.
“He’s great. He really does a lot for charity and he is very active in helping out in the community.
“It’s for a fantastic cause and Laura is so looking forward to the trip.”
Laura will join Stephen McAllister and others from the original team of Renfrewshire Council workers, who travelled to tiny William Village, Malawi, to build a safe school environment for local kids back in 2015.
The team is returning to continue the work that they started, this time aiming to build a nursery facility for younger kids in the village, as well as a medical room.
Laura and 10 other volunteers will travel the gruelling distance overseas and remain in Malawi for 15 days.
The Paisley girl said she signed up for the mission after she got chatting to Stephen about his experience.
She said: “I know Stephen as he sometimes drinks in the bar. He told me about his trip to Malawi and it sounded like something I wanted to do.
“I’m very excited about it and rearing to go now – I think it’s important to get a different outlook in order to appreciate life.”
Thanks to the kind work of the Classrooms for Malawi team, there is a safe school environment in William Village for 900 children who previously had no access to education.
This time, the plan is to contruct a centre for pre-fives providing a safe day-care area for youngsters, as well as installing solar panels on the roofs.
Money raised from the raffle and other fundraising will allow the team to purchase the materials and tools needed to carry out the build.