Dumfries and Galloway man hands over £26,000 to healthcare heroes thanks to One Big Thank You

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A Crossmichael widower has handed over tens of thousands of pounds to Dumfries and Galloway’s healthcare heroes.

Jim McLelland raised the cash by walking, running and jogging round Lochside Park in Castle Douglas for 12 hours in one day during the summer.

He took on the challenge to replicate what staff go through during a shift at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.

And he was there on Monday to hand over a cheque for £26,000.

Half the money will go to the Alexandra Unit for palliative care with the other half for staff support.

Of that, £5,000 will go into a fund aiming to improve physical activity for staff in a bid to improve fitness and wellbeing.

The remainder will go towards staff training and development above what the NHS provides.

Although Jim’s One Big Thank You took place in August, he’s still been receiving donations for the cause.

He recently received £360 from staff at The Iron Brew cafe in Gatehouse.

His event was held the day after wife Ruth would have turned 67 in the summer.

She died at DGRI’s Alexandra Unit last year.

Jim’s first wife, Diane, died in the unit at the old hospital in 1994.

And he’s planning to continue his fundraising efforts in a bid to achieve his initial goal of raising £100,000.

Jim, who organises the annual Dee Dip in Crossmichael, said: “What I’m looking for is people that would like to help and become an ambassador for One Big Thank You and we’d all work together.

“They’d organise different thing in their town or village and put the money into the JustGiving page. They’d put their name next to it so they get the recognition.

“We’re all doing it for the same thing to say thank you to staff at the hospital.

“We didn’t get £100,000 this year but if we get ambassadors in each of the towns across Dumfries and Galloway, £100,000 isn’t that hard to reach.

“There’s 147,000 in the region and another 100,000 odd visitors, so you could get £1 from each of them.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming an ambassador can contact Jim on 07776 012873 or jimmclelland@icloud.com.

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