The pipes are calling for key staff Teenager brings musical cheer
A teenage piper from Wishaw cheered up his neighbours as he joined hundreds of others across the country in a musical tribute to key workers.
Griffin Jackson, 16, who only started playing the bagpipes a couple of years ago, blasted out Scotland the Brave as he took part in #pipeupforcarers, while residents in his street joined in applauding the frontline workers.
The call to arms for the players of the traditional Scottish instrument was made in an appeal by the National Piping Centre.
While the teenager, who moves into fifth year at Dalziel High School in August, was playing at his own front door in Craigneuk, two of his fellow bandmates – Andrew Sneddon and Ross Moffat – were doing likewise in their respective streets.
Griffin, who plays in the North Lanarkshire Schools Pipe Band, is well aware of the important role that carers play – his mum is one of them.
He said: “The National Piping
Centre put a post on Facebook to try and get pipers all over the world involved.
“My mum is a carer so I thought it would be good to take part, and it got a good reception from our neighbours.”
As well as paying tribute to care workers, it gave Griffin the opportunity to get some extra practice as he doesn’t know when he will next get to play with the band.
“I’ve been playing just short of two years,” he added. “I’ve played a season with the North Lanarkshire Schools Pipe Band and attended all the competitions last year, but they are all being cancelled this year.”
Griffin’s proud mum Sharon, 43, works in a care home.
Three people have died at Morningside Care Home near Wishaw and another in Glasgow’s east end has been devastated by 16 deaths within a week, but Sharon believes that you have to try and keep what’s going on elsewhere out of your mind.
She said: “No one in the care home I work in has it (COVID-19), so I hope it stays like that.
“In there we treat it like a normal day, we don’t have the news on or anything like that.
“We’re working for 12 hours a day but we don’t need to think about it (the virus) until we walk out the door when we finish.
“The majority of people in the care home I’m in have dementia or Alzheimer’s so they don’t understand what is going on outside.”
Sharon has been working a lot more in recent weeks due to staff shortages but she was fortunate enough to be home on Thursday.
She continued: “I’ve been working six days a week, doing extra overtime.
“Some of the workers have kids at home and with the weans being off school, they need to be off too.
“I was at home on the Thursday so it was a proud mammy moment for me when Griffin was playing.
“We’re used to him practicing three or four hours a day, so you kind of blank it out.
“If he’s not playing on the pipes he’s playing on the chanter, or else he’s listening to it constantly.
“I can’t complain, it’s like second nature now, and the neighbours love it as well.”