Award is tribute to John’s role in air ambulance
Posthumous honour for founding trustee
A late Perth special constable has received a posthumous Police Scotland award for his work with Scotland’s charity air ambulance service.
John Bullough, who died suddenly last year at the age of 54, had been one of the founding trustees and chairman of Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) which helps medics get to remote parts of Scotland saving countless lives.
He ran the popular Perth city firm Mcewens – and was awarded an MBE for services to emergency healthcare in Scotland and the Perth community in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Last week he received the Unsung Hero Award Tayside Division (Posthumous) – in the Police Scotland Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards 2023.
This award comes just months after a special presentation was also made to John’s widow, Lady Georgina in memory of her latehusband at the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Business Star Awards.
Lady Georgina said this week that John, who had been a helicopter pilot in the Army Air Corps, had started as a special police constable around sixteen years ago.
He had formed the idea for an air ambulance while attending a horrific road accident on the A9 north of Perth.
Lady Georgina said: “I think this award is incredibly valuable because it is from the police.
“John’s role as a special constable was so important to him. He had a lot of friendships in the police and this award would have been especially meaningful to him.
“It was during his time as a special police constable that he got the idea for the air ambulance.
“He had been at the scene of a road traffic accident on the A9 north of Perth involving fatalities and lifechanging injuries.
“It was before the days of multiple dualling on the road.
“There were long tailbacks and it took an extra long time for the ambulance to arrive by road.
“John thought things could have had a very different outcome had there been an air ambulance available.
“That was the moment when he thought we have to do something for those areas of Scotland that do not have good road access.
“It’s immensely touching and wonderful for him to be recognised in this way.”
His parents Michael and Sandra Bullough who live at Huntingtower attended the Chief Constable’s awards ceremony along with Lady Georgina, daughter of the eighth Earl of Mansfield, William Murray.
He had attended Glenalmond College and lived at Logie House, Logiealmond, near his former school.
SCAA vice chair Mike Beale had said following Mr Bullough’s passing that he had been involved with SCAA from its inception and, together with his fellow cofounders, saw the charity grow into an important and integral part of the country’s emergency services network.
“His brand of enthusiasm for fundraising was to be admired,” Mr Beale added.
“And over the 10-year history of SCAA he saw over £50 million raised, crews responding to nearly 5000 call outs and thousands of lives saved or impacted upon.” largest wildfires recorded last year, at Cannich near Inverness and the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Kinlochmoidart which involved hundreds of firefighters and community partners committed over several weeks.
Speaking as Scotland’s national fire and rescue service launched its wildfire prevention campaign, deputy assistant chief officer (DACO) Bruce Farquharson, SFRS Wildfire Lead said: “Wildfires are extremely dangerous as they can spread rapidly over many hectares of land.
“Careless behaviour is often the root cause of wildfires which have the potential to burn for days or weeks, placing a significant drain on our crews.
“With sensible precautions, the public can play a crucial part in preventing wildfires from damaging wildlife, environment and rural communities.”
During the colder months, frost can remove the moisture from the vegetation on the ground and leave it tinder dry.
Similarly in the Spring or summer, very warm and dry conditions can leave the ground primed to fuel a fire.
Strong winds added to any of the conditions above can determine how much a wildfire spreads.
More practical tips and guidance, as well as any active wildfire danger assessments, can be found via the SFRS website.
It was during his time as a special constable that he got the idea for the air ambulance