“Kiltwalkers of Scotland, It’s time to Kiltwalk”

11th April 2015 and it’s Glasgow Kiltwalk Eve and as I write today’s Blipfoto I’m reminded why its future was worth fighting for.
 
It’s no secret it’s been a troubling time for The Kiltwalk. A time when people stopped concentrating on the £2.4m donated to Scotland’s Children’s Charities and Causes and instead chose to question, well just about everything and anything we’ve done, but mainly the cost of what it’s taken to provide a platform for our Kiltwalkers and Kiltwalk Teams to raise the funds that have been donated. It may have come as a surprise to them all, but it costs money to put on events the size of The Kiltwalk and I firmly believe without The Kiltwalk, that £2.4m would have stayed in people’s pockets, never seeing the light of day for the charities it supported.
 
Some doubted The Kiltwalk, however 99% of our Kiltwalkers didn’t and that gave us the fight to carry on. However with each story that broke and every Social Media row that seemed to engulf us, people stopped signing up, the impact of which was we believed Glasgow may have been the final Kiltwalk, ever.
 
Yet we soldiered on and some of the team counted and recounted registrations and cash flow, while others re-examined event costs and cut accordingly. The Board and the team also worked tirelessly in our efforts to keep everyone on side, while attempting to find someone who “got The Kiltwalk” and would back us and finally, the most amazing and unimaginable thing happened when we found that partner, who weren’t just any partner, they were The Hunter Foundation and they most certainly “got” The Kiltwalk.
 
It would be easy for us to say we put together a compelling proposition and case for the continuation of The Kiltwalk, because we did. However, what they got about The Kiltwalk was that there’s nothing like us out there that provides both teams and individuals walkers the chance to come together and walk as a “movement” for the sake of Scotland’s Kids.
 
However, let there be no doubt, what they understood from day one was that our Kiltwalkers loved The Kiltwalk. They understood that teams were not only raising money for known charities, they were buying books for schools and toys for nurseries and if The Kiltwalk ended, that would end too.
 
So as ever Kiltwalkers, once again we have to thank you for continuing to believe, ensuring The Hunter Foundation believed also.
 
One of the things I’m sure they were impressed with was the charities that have been borne from The Kiltwalk and the Teams that have turned into determined fundraising machines and those teams know who they are and we love and appreciate you all.
 
Last year Team Ailsa took part in The Kiltwalk and their reasons were very close to their heart as Ailsa, pictured above, and battled to overcome the most horrendous illness. So one year on, I thought I’d contact Team Ailsa and see how they and Ailsa are doing.
 
Ailsa's parents and Team Ailsa have so many people to thank for this second chance at life for their beautiful wee girl, so here’s their story.
 
“The first straightforward comparison to make is where we are now compared to this time last year. At the 2014 Glasgow Kiltwalk, Ailsa was not even 3 months post-transplant. She was able to briefly leave isolation and be at the Yorkhill pit stop, on her Dad's shoulders, to cheer on her Mum and the 90+ Team Ailsa walkers though! For the 2015 Kiltwalk, 15 months post-transplant, Ailsa is hoping to do the 6-mile walk, albeit with the aid of a buggy and a willing helper in Mum to push her round, with her big sister Caitlin and new baby sister Isla!
 
The last 12 months have been a period of steady progress, with the second bone marrow transplant bedding in and Ailsa's marrow and blood levels slowly rising. Some secondary complications have emerged - some Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) when the donor cells recognise they are in a different body and attack the body in different ways. Ailsa has experienced horribly painful rashes across her whole body for which she has to use several creams daily. Her thyroid has stopped working and she is now on medication for life to stabilise that. She also experienced severe hair loss at the start of 2015 with alopecia and dermatitis caused by the GvHD. Her hair had come back in lovely and curly and thick after the chemo and radiotherapy for the second transplant, so to lose it again was a real shame for her. She feels it more now as she is that bit older and is at school now - it was normal for her last year as all her friends in the Schiehallion Ward had also lost their hair, but her pals at school now of course have all their hair. A very big thank you goes to the Little Princess Trust who have donated a real hair wig for Ailsa - this has helped her greatly.
 
Despite this, we are in a very good place relative to the past three years - Ailsa is here and is doing well. Half a dozen platelet donors kept Ailsa alive for two years until the second transplant with two platelet transfusions each week - we would ask anyone reading this to think about becoming a platelet donor with the Blood Transfusion Service or to become a blood donor - Ailsa needed blood every week before her transplant and blood donors across the country kept her alive.
 
We thank Anthony Nolan, the British bone marrow charity, for finding not one, but two bone marrow donors. We cannot put into words the level of complete gratitude we feel for the two anonymous donors who underwent operations to give Ailsa the chance to live - we now have experience of a truly heroic act.
 
We thank the medical team and everyone involved with the Schiehallion Unit at Yorkhill, where Ailsa's two bone marrow transplants were performed. Professor Brenda Gibson and Dr Anna-Maria Ewins, the transplant team and the ward and day care nurses and doctors have never wavered, despite Ailsa doing most things a bit differently than they expected! They have always had a plan and a way around the obstacles and have pulled her through some awful times to allow her to fight back against this horrible disease that is aplastic anaemia.
 
As parents, you never want to see your child in pain and it is an indescribably devastating and numbing feeling to see a child go through what Ailsa is going through. To find a way to say thank you to everyone involved in helping Ailsa fight her illness is not always easy, but this is where the whole idea and ethos of the Kiltwalk came in.
 
We had heard of the Kiltwalk from friends who had been involved in previous years, but the idea to form a team came from Ailsa's mum Kirsteen and her godmother Lisa having a wee chat. Doing the Glasgow walk suddenly became doing all four (then five when Dundee was added in!). A core team of 7 suddenly swelled to over 90 for the Glasgow walk. The core team went on to complete all five - two of team (Paula and Anne) becoming platinum kiltwalkers and the other core members finishing 3 or 4 each. Kirsteen did 3, but had to be substituted when she became pregnant with Isla! Ailsa's Dad Neil did the last two walks instead.
 
Participating in and completing the Kiltwalks in 2014 were unforgettably amazing experiences for all involved with Team Ailsa. We have met so many wonderful people raising money for the Kiltwalk charities and causes which have touched their own lives and have shared stories along the way, while clocking up the miles or resting at the pit stops! The atmosphere of the Kiltwalks is truly unique - who would have thought walking 26 miles could be so much fun?!
 
Being able to raise money for our charities of choice, while still contributing to the core charities - kids charities doing excellent work - made doing the Kiltwalks the best option for us. The magnificent experiences we all had in 2014 persuaded us that we wanted to do them again!
 
Team Ailsa raised some £31,000 doing the Kiltwalks - a remarkable total. This allowed us to say thank you to Anthony Nolan and the Schiehallion Unit with cheques of over £10,000 and £13,000. No amount of money can ever fully repay the debt we owe, but we know we have added over 100 potential donors to the bone marrow register and bought essential monitoring equipment for the Schiehallion Unit - hopefully helping families in a similar position to us with critically ill children. The Kiltwalk made this level of money-raising possible and we thank the organisation for this.
 
We were absolutely delighted and immensely proud to be given the Kiltwalk Award for Team of the Year for 2014. The award was for everyone who has helped us fundraise - race nights; April Teas; band nights; ladies nights; casino nights; tractor rallies; bag packs to name but a few. We live in a small village, Dundonald in Ayrshire, but the community there have rallied round to support the Kiltwalkers and have allowed Ailsa's Appeal and Team Ailsa to be so successful.
 
For 2015, we have a core team again doing all the walks, with a few bidding to become platinum walkers and over 30 people walking Glasgow. We look forward to meeting more people along the way and hopefully raising a few more pounds.
 
We know that the past few months have been very difficult for the Kiltwalk, but we would like to make clear our gratitude to the charity for giving us the chance to raise so much money while having such enjoyable days out! We know the money we have raised has gone to the charities we wished to support and has helped children in need. We continue to support the Kiltwalk and the work it does and hope to be involved in the years to come.
 
Hope to see you all on the walks - look out for the pink Team Ailsa hats and say hello! We wish all Kiltwalkers a happy walk, a great day out and good sponsorship - and some sunshine!
 
If you'd like to keep up with how Ailsa is doing, you can follow Ailsa's Appeal on Facebook.
 
All the very best,
 
Team Ailsa"

All that's left for me to say is that I look forward to seeing my Kiltwalk friends tomorrow and happy walking.