As I Look out the Window . . .

As I Look out the window of the Southern General Hilton, I can see the new building towering proudly above the rest of the sprawling, tired looking hospital. I'm a Southside lad, so know this hospital well. In fact my first visit was when I was18 months old when I was admitted wIth a fractured skull when I climbed out of a cot and landed on the solid stone floor.

It has served Glasgow well, however clearly it was time for something new and all credit to the Scottish Government for agreeing to go ahead and commit the required expenditure and investment into what will be a new, modern, state of the art hospital, which in years to come will deliver value many times over the initial setup cost.
 
While I was contemplating this, I received an alert on my phone, which when I investigated turned out to be the latest Third Force News article on The Kiltwalk and in that moment, I drew a parallel in my mind with THe KIltwalk and the new hospital in what is a well balanced article, which recognises what The Kiltwalk have achieved, the pains of growing at a phenomenal rate and the need for remembering that every pound raised by our Kiltwalkers is precious.
 
I've read so much enmity and resentment towards The Kiltwalk in the last four weeks that I've questioned why we're all fighting for its survival, but fighting we are and we need enmity and resentment to turn to understanding and continued support. Yes there may have been bumps along the way along with costs we hadn't anticipated, but our goal remains the same which as to help as many of Scotland's Children’s charities and causes as we can, by becoming a long term, sustainable charity which passes on every pound raised by a Kiltwalker to the causes they support.
 
So growth is something that has had to be managed in not only 2013, but 2014 also. We've invested not in material things, or weddings or World Cup football tickets, which was the latest I heard, but assets and those assets are people.

People like Nela and her team who are experienced at running safe, mass participant events and Gemma who is tasked with bringing in much needed corporate sponsorship, which is vital if we're going to be able to cover all of our costs.
 
What we haven't spent money on are junkets or expenses for Trustees, who work incredibly hard on a voluntary basis to try and help manage the charity become the charity you all want it to be.
 
To the Kiltwalkers who have signed up this year you can help The Kiltwalk by getting another friend or family member to join up and walk with you. For our loyal supporters, please be assured we're the same faces that you know and hopefully love and are trying to do the right thing, always. With your continued help, we'll continue to work hard on your behalf to get the balance right.
 
We've had to make fairly drastic cuts, including jobs, many of whom you'll know. These job losses aren't being made because we had too many staff, they're being made due to the fact that in order for The Kiltwalk to survive as a charity, we have to clip our wings, consolidate what we have and get back to remembering we're mere custodians of The Kiltwalk ass it's the Kiltwalkers, raising millions of pounds for Scotland's children that ARE The Kiltwalk.
 
So as I finish my gaze out of the window this morning I have two wishes. One is that my test results show there's life in this old Trustee and the second is that like the new hospital I see in front of me, The Kiltwalk rises again to help Scotland's children.